Browsing by Author "McGregor, Kyle A."

Now showing 1 - 6 of 6
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    Adolescent Sexual Behavior Research: Perspectives of Investigators, IRB Members, and IRB Staff about Risk Categorization and IRB Approval
    (The Hastings Center, 2017) McGregor, Kyle A.; Hensel, Devon J.; Waltz, Amy C.; Molnar, Elizabeth; Ott, Mary A.; Pediatrics, School of Medicine
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    Banking the Future: Adolescent Capacity to Consent to Biobank Research
    (Wiley, 2019) McGregor, Kyle A.; Ott, Mary A.; Pediatrics, School of Medicine
    Adolescents are an important population to represent in biobanks. Inclusion of biospecimens from adolescents advances our understanding of the long-term consequences of pediatric disease and allows the discovery of methods to prevent adult diseases during childhood. Consent for biobanking is complex, especially when considering adolescent participation, as it brings up issues that are not present with general clinical research. The development and successful implementation of an adolescent capacity assessment tool applied specifically to biobanking can potentially provide researchers and clinicians with contextualized information on participants' understanding, appreciation, reasoning, and voluntary choice for biobanks. This tool would enhance current studies looking at the role of shared decision-making in biobanking, as well as provide a formal measurement when considering decisions around pediatric and adolescent biobanking participation. This study adapted the MacCAT-CR for use with a hypothetical adolescent biobank study and examines predictors of MacCAT-CR scores on healthy and chronically ill adolescents.
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    New approaches to research with vulnerable populations - interdisciplinary application of a framework for vulnerability and adolescent capacity to consent
    (2015-10-16) McGregor, Kyle A.; Hall, James A.; Bennett, Larry W.; Wilkerson, David A.; Ott, Mary A.
    Children's and adolescents' capacity to provide valid informed consent is one of the key ethical concerns in pediatric research, and the focus of this project. The original contribution to knowledge is the advancement of both conceptual and empirical bioethical approaches to research with vulnerable populations. First, a review of adolescent vulnerability is presented to highlight the complex interplay between capacity and other forms of vulnerability. This review is offered as an interdisciplinary analysis to better understand why the study of vulnerable populations is critical to the ethical advancement of clinical research. Results from this analysis suggest the need for enhanced screening techniques as well as the utilization of specialized staff to identify and reduce the impact of different forms of vulnerability. The primary tasks of the empirical portion of the dissertation were to: (1) Adapt a validated adult competency assessment tool for clinical research, the MacArthur Competency Assessment Tool for Clinical Research, to assess the capacity of children and adolescents to consent to clinical research; (2) Identify predictors that impact children and adolescents’ capacity to provide consent to clinical research; and (3) assess differences and similarities in capacity between healthy and chronically ill children and adolescents. Overall results suggest adolescent capacity to consent to research was similar to adults, and most strongly associated with their family's socioeconomic status as well as their level of health literacy. These findings contrast starkly with the age-based criterion for providing consent currently utilized in assent and consent determinations. These findings also provide insights into ways to ethically involve youth in complex biomedical research.
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    Sex-Based Employment Protections for Transgender Individuals: A Study of Title VII Legal Cases in the Sixth Circuit
    (2019-07) Harris, Evan Marshall; Gentle-Genitty, Carolyn; Boys, Stephanie K.; McCabe, Heather; McGregor, Kyle A.; Pfeffer, Carla A.
    In the U.S., the transgender community disproportionately experiences a rate of unemployment three times that of the national average. These nearly 1.4 million individuals receive no explicit federal employment protections. Though judges have historically concluded that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 does not offer such protections, the Sixth Circuit recently concluded that transgender discrimination is prohibited under Title VII. A study was conducted to discern what lead to the Sixth Circuit explicitly extending Title VII’s sex-based protections to transgender individuals. Analysis consisted of data from historical Title VII legal cases—citing sex-based discrimination— brought by, or on behalf of, transgender individuals in the Sixth Circuit. The sample included 20 court records from 11 legal cases identified through the Nexis Uni database. Both a thematic analysis and a Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) were conducted. The thematic analysis illustrated four distinct steps taken by the Sixth Circuit—in addition to the two steps previously taken by other Circuits and the Supreme Court. Each stage revealed small deviations in statutory interpretation and application, which lead to a marked change in the legal discourse on Title VII’s sex-based discrimination prohibition. The CDA compared the Circuit’s starting discourse to its more recent discourse and found judges’ moved from a passive to an active role in constructing the legal discourse. Overall, the study illustrates the judicial branch of government’s influential impact on employment rights, and more broadly, social justice. Further, the study presents legal engagement as essential to the pursuit of social change. Given social work’s value of social justice, forensic participation is a suitable addition to the social work toolkit.
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    A Social Work Perspective on Paediatric and Adolescent Research Vulnerability
    (Whiting and Birch, 2016) McGregor, Kyle A.; Hall, James A.; Wilkerson, David A.; Bennett, Larry W.; Ott, Mary A.; Pediatrics, School of Medicine
    Children’s and adolescents’ capacity to provide valid informed consent is one of the key ethical concerns in pediatric research. This review of adolescent vulnerability is presented to highlight the complex interplay between capacity and other forms of vulnerability. This review is offered as an interdisciplinary analysis to better understand why the study of vulnerable populations is critical to the ethical advancement of clinical research. Results from this analysis suggest the need for enhanced screening techniques as well as the utilization of specialized staff to identify and reduce the impact of different forms of vulnerability. These findings also provide insights into ways to ethically involve youth in complex biomedical research.
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    Willingness to disclose STI status to sex partners among college-age men in the United States
    (Wolters Kluwer, 2016-03) Pfeiffer, Elizabeth J.; McGregor, Kyle A.; Van Der Pol, Barbara; Hansen, Cathlene Hardy; Ott, Mary A.; Department of Pediatrics, IU School of Medicine
    Disclosure of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) to sexual partners is critical to the prevention, treatment and control of STIs. We examine intra- and inter-personal influences on willingness to disclose STI status among college-age males. Participants (n = 1064) were aged 17-24 years and recruited from a variety of university and community venues. Using independent samples t-test, Pearson chi-squares test, and binary logistic regression, we examined the relationship between willingness to disclose a STI and intra- and inter-personal factors, including age, masculinity values, interpersonal violence, partner cell phone monitoring, alcohol and/or drug use, condom use, number and characteristics of sex partners, and previous STI. Results reveal that among college-age males, type of sex partner and masculinity values are significant variables in predicting whether or not an individual is willing to disclose. These data can inform STI control programs to more effectively address the complex issues associated with STI disclosure to sex partners.