Informed consent: Risk and benefit disclosure practices of child clinicians
The informed consent practices of clinical child psychologists, regarding specific therapeutic risk and benefit disclosure) were explored through a survey sent to 725 members of the American Psychological Association’s Division 12, Section 1. A factor analysis of the survey responses revealed one benefit and three risk factors. All the therapeutic benefits and the risks related to financial cost and limits to confidentiality were rated as very important and were reportedly discussed frequently with clients. Other risks, such as labelling and social stigma, were not valued as important and were infrequently discussed with clients. There were strong positive correlations between the importance ratings and the percent of time the clinicians reported initiating discussion of each issue with prospective clients. The implications of these findings and future research directions are discussed. © 1992 by The Haworth Press, Inc.
