Parent-Investigators
A Dilemma
- David B. Resnik, JD, PhD
- Author Affiliation: National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Institutes of Health, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina.
Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text.
- KEYWORDS:
- BEHAVIORAL RESEARCH
- BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES
- CHILDREN'S HEALTH
- CONFLICT OF INTEREST
- ETHICS, MEDICAL
- ETHICS, RESEARCH
- PARENTS
- RESEARCH PERSONNEL
- RESEARCH SUBJECTS
- SOCIAL SCIENCES
A recent news story reported that some psychologists and neuroscientists have used their children as study participants.1 In one case, a neurology professor had 3 of his children undergo a brain scan with magnetic resonance imaging. In a language development study, a psychologist videotaped 70% of his son's waking hours for the first 3 years of his life.1 Other investigators have also conducted research on their own children, including Edward Jenner,2 who tested his smallpox vaccine on his 11-month-old son; Jonas Salk, who tested his polio vaccine on his own children; and psychologist Jean Piaget, who constructed his theories of child development based on studies of his own children.
Should investigators conduct research on their own children? Federal research regulations3 do not address this issue and regulatory agencies, such as the Office of Human Research Protections,4 have no policies dealing with it. Other research guidelines, …
