Center for Ethics Education Research

View Research Ethics and Health Disparities Publications and Resources

The Center for Ethics Education Director, Dr. Celia Fisher has been awarded several federally-funded research grants. Descriptions of current and past studies are below. A selection of research measures for research involving vulnerable populations developed from Dr. Fisher's Fordham University projects is available by visiting the Ethics Scales and Measures page.

Publications, Presentations, and Scales from the Center for Ethics Education 

Assessment and Enhancement of Research Consent Capacity for Adults with Mental Retardation

National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (R01 HD39332-01)

Publication(s)
Fisher, C. B., Cea, C. D., Davidson, P. W., & Fried, A. L. (2006). Capacity of persons with mental retardation to consent to participation in randomized clinical trials. American Journal of Psychiatry, 163, 1813–1820. 

Cea, C. D., & Fisher, C. B. (2003). Health care decision-making by adults with mental retardation. Mental retardation, 41(2), 78–87.

Presentation(s)
Cea, C. D., & Fisher, C. B. (2002). Informed Consent for Minimal Risk Social-Behavioral Research. 

Scale(s) and Measure(s)
Assessment of Consent Capacity – Interviewer Form (ACC-RCT)
Assessment of Consent Capacity – Interviewer/Transcription/Coder Form (ACC-IR)

Ethical Challenges for Community Engaged Research Involving Persons with Drug Addiction 

Publication(s)
Fried, A. L., & Fisher, C. B. (2016). Moral Stress and Job Burnout Among Frontline Staff Conducting Clinical Research on Affective and Anxiety Disorders. Professional psychology, research and practice, 47(3), 171–180.

Fisher, C. B., True, G., Alexander, L., & Fried, A. L. (2013). Moral Stress, Moral Practice, and Ethical Climate in Community-Based Drug-Use Research: Views From the Front Line. AJOB primary research, 4(3), 27–38.

True, G., Alexander, L. B., & Fisher, C. B. (2017). Supporting the role of community members employed as research staff: Perspectives of community researchers working in addiction research. Social science & medicine (1982), 187, 67–75.

Ethics for Adolescent Research Questionnaire

National Science Foundation EVS Grant (SBR - 9710310)

Publications(s)
Fisher, C. B., Wallace, S. A., & Fenton, R. E. (2000). Discrimination distress during adolescence. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 29, 679–695. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1026455906512

Scales and Measures
Ethics for Adolescent Research Questionnaire

Ethics in HIV Prevention Research Involving LGBT Youth

Publication(s)
Arbeit, M. R., Fisher, C. B., Macapagal, K., & Mustanski, B. (2016). Bisexual Invisibility and the Sexual Health Needs of Adolescent Girls. LGBT health, 3(5), 342–349.

Chen, D., Matson, M., Macapagal, K., Johnson, E. K., Rosoklija, I., Finlayson, C., Fisher, C. B., & Mustanski, B. (2018). Attitudes Toward Fertility and Reproductive Health Among Transgender and Gender-Nonconforming Adolescents. The Journal of adolescent health: official publication of the Society for Adolescent Medicine, 63(1), 62–68.

Fisher C. B. (2019). Providing Puberty Suppression Treatment for Transgender Youth: What Constitutes Competence?. The American journal of bioethics: AJOB, 19(7), 68–69.

Fisher, C. B., Arbeit, M. R., Dumont, M. S., Macapagal, K., & Mustanski, B. (2016). Self-Consent for HIV Prevention Research Involving Sexual and Gender Minority Youth: Reducing Barriers Through Evidence-Based Ethics. Journal of empirical research on human research ethics: JERHRE, 11(1), 3–14.

Fisher, C. B., Fried, A. L., Desmond, M., Macapagal, K., & Mustanski, B. (2017). Facilitators and Barriers to Participation in PrEP HIV Prevention Trials Involving Transgender Male and Female Adolescents and Emerging Adults. AIDS education and prevention: official publication of the International Society for AIDS Education, 29(3), 205–217.

Fisher, C. B., Fried, A. L., Desmond, M., Macapagal, K., & Mustanski, B. (2018). Perceived Barriers to HIV Prevention Services for Transgender Youth. LGBT health, 5(6), 350–358.

Fisher, C. B., Fried, A. L., Ibrahim Puri, L., Macapagal, K., & Mustanski, B. (2018). "Free Testing and PrEP without Outing Myself to Parents:" Motivation to participate in oral and injectable PrEP clinical trials among adolescent men who have sex with men. PloS one, 13(7), e0200560.

Fisher, C. B., Fried, A. L., Macapagal, K., & Mustanski, B. (2018). Patient-Provider Communication Barriers and Facilitators to HIV and STI Preventive Services for Adolescent MSM. AIDS and behavior, 22(10), 3417–3428.

Gray, A., Macapagal, K., Mustanski, B., & Fisher, C. B. (2020). Surveillance studies involving HIV testing are needed: Will at-risk youth participate?. Health psychology : official journal of the Division of Health Psychology, American Psychological Association, 39(1), 21–28.

Macapagal, K., Coventry, R., Arbeit, M. R., Fisher, C. B., & Mustanski, B. (2017). "I Won't Out Myself Just to Do a Survey": Sexual and Gender Minority Adolescents' Perspectives on the Risks and Benefits of Sex Research. Archives of sexual behavior, 46(5), 1393–1409.

Macapagal, K., Bettin, E., Matson, M., Kraus, A., Fisher, C. B., & Mustanski, B. (2019). Measuring Discomfort in Health Research Relative to Everyday Events and Routine Care: An Application to Sexual and Gender Minority Youth. The Journal of adolescent health : official publication of the Society for Adolescent Medicine, 64(5), 594–601.

Macapagal, K., Moskowitz, D. A., Li, D. H., Carrión, A., Bettin, E., Fisher, C. B., & Mustanski, B. (2018). Hookup App Use, Sexual Behavior, and Sexual Health Among Adolescent Men Who Have Sex With Men in the United States. The Journal of adolescent health : official publication of the Society for Adolescent Medicine, 62(6), 708–715.

Matson, M., Macapagal, K., Kraus, A., Coventry, R., Bettin, E., Fisher, C. B., & Mustanski, B. (2019). Sexual and gender minority youth's perspectives on sharing de-identified data in sexual health and HIV prevention research. Sexuality research & social policy : journal of NSRC : SR & SP, 16(1), 1–11.

Mustanski, B., & Fisher, C. B. (2016). HIV Rates Are Increasing in Gay/Bisexual Teens: IRB Barriers to Research Must Be Resolved to Bend the Curve. American journal of preventive medicine, 51(2), 249–252.

Mustanski, B., Coventry, R., Macapagal, K., Arbeit, M. R., & Fisher, C. B. (2017). Sexual and Gender Minority Adolescents' Views On HIV Research Participation and Parental Permission: A Mixed-Methods Study. Perspectives on sexual and reproductive health, 49(2), 111–121.

Mustanski, B., Macapagal, K., Thomann, M., Feinstein, B. A., Newcomb, M. E., Motley, D., & Fisher, C. B. (2018). Parents' Perspectives About Adolescent Boys' Involvement in Biomedical HIV Prevention Research. Archives of sexual behavior, 47(7), 1923–1935.

Fordham Athlete Alcohol Prevention Initiative

Presentation(s)
Vacanti-Shova, K., Wahesh, E., & Fisher, C. B. (2009). Predictors of drinking among college varsity athletes. Annual meeting of the Association for Psychological Science. San Francisco, CA, May 22–26.

Fordham Resident Alcohol Prevention Program

National Institute of Alcohol Abuse & Alcoholism (U18 AA025912-01)

Publication(s)
Fisher, C.B., Fried, A.L., & Anushko, A. (2007). Development and Validation of the College Drinking Influences Survey. Journal of American College Health, 56(3), 217-230.

Scales and Measures
The College Drinking Influences Scale (CDIS) consists of 3 distinct scales: (1) the Psychosocial Drinking Inventory (PDI); (2) the Drinking Values Scale (DVS); and the College Drinking Expectations Scale (CDES).

Fordham University Pathways to Health Study

Publication(s)
Yip, T., Feng, Y., Fowle, J. & Fisher, C. B. (in press). Sleep disparities during the COVID-19 pandemic An Investigation of AIAN, Asian, Black, Latinx and White young adults. Sleep Health: Journal of the National Sleep Foundation.

Presentation(s)
Fisher, C. B., Tao, X., & Yip, T. (2020). Mental Health and Racial Justice in the Time of COVID-19. American Society for Bioethics and Humanities.

Scales and Measures
The Coronavirus (COVID-19) Racial Bias Scale (CRBS)
The Coronavirus (COVID-19) Victimization Distress Scale (CVDS)


Increasing American Indian and Alaska Natives Research Engagement Through a Culturally Adapted Ethics Training

Publication(s)
Parker, M., Pearson, C., Donald, C., & Fisher, C. B. (2019). Beyond the Belmont Principles: A Community-Based Approach to Developing an Indigenous Ethics Model and Curriculum for Training Health Researchers Working with American Indian and Alaska Native Communities. American journal of community psychology, 64(1-2), 9–20.

Pearson, C. R., Parker, M., Zhou, C., Donald, C., & Fisher, C. B. (2019). A culturally tailored research ethics training curriculum for American Indian and Alaska Native communities: a randomized comparison trial. Critical public health, 29(1), 27–39.

Toolkit
The rETHICS toolkit consists of a curriculum, facilitator guides, PowerPoint presentations, and case studies presented in six modules for research with American Indian and Alaska Native community human subjects’ curriculum that satisfies IRB training requirements.Each PowerPoint presentation is matched with a step-by-step facilitator guide that includes in-depth information of each human subjects training content area and a scripted guide. Also included are quiz questions, an answer key, and a certificate of completion.

Integrating Research Ethics into Introductory Psychology Course Curriculum

Publication(s)
Fisher, C. B., & Kuther, T. (1997). Integrating Research Ethics Into the Introductory Psychology Course Curriculum. Teaching of Psychology, 24(3), 171–175. (Excerpted in Teaching of Psychology (2nd ed.), 1999, Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum, Assoc.). 
National Science Foundation (SBR - 9310458)

Manuals
Introductory Psychology Laboratory Problems in Research Ethics (Student's Manual)
Case Studies in Research Ethics (Instructor’s Manual)

Meanings of Adolescents Masculinity Scale

Publication(s)
Oransky, M., & Fisher, C. B. (2009). The development and validation of the Meanings of Adolescent Masculinity Scale. Psychology of Men & Masculinity, 10, 57–72.

Scale(s) and Measure(s)
Meanings of Adolescent Masculinity Scale

Mentoring the Responsible Conduct of Research

National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (R01 NS052877-01)

Publication(s)
Fisher, C. B. Fried, A. F., Goodman, S. J., & Germano, K. K. (2009). Measures of mentoring, department climate, and graduate student preparedness in the responsible conduct of psychological research. Ethics & Behavior, 19, 227-252.

Fisher, C.B., Fried, A.F., & Feldman, L. (2009). Graduate socialization in the responsible conduct of research: A national survey on the research ethics training experiences of psychology doctoral students. Ethics & Behavior, 19, 496-518.

Scales and Measures
The Mentoring the Responsible Conduct of Research (MRCR) Scales include (1) The Responsible Conduct of Research – Department Climate (RCR-DC) Scale; (2) The Responsible Conduct of Research – Student Preparedness Scale; and (3) The Responsible Conduct of Research – Field Integrity Scale. 

Minority Perspectives on Attitudes toward Informed Consent Procedures for Adolescent Risk Research

Publication(s)
Fisher, C. B., & Wallace, S. A. (2000). Through the community looking glass: Re-evaluating the ethical and policy implications of research on adolescent risk and psychopathology. Ethics & Behavior, 10(2), 99–118. DOI: 10.1207/S15327019EB1002_01. PMID: 11841105

Fisher, C. B., Wallace, S. A., & Fenton, R. E. (2000). Discrimination distress during adolescence. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 29, 679–695.

Scale(s) and Measure(s)
Adolescent Discrimination Distress Index
Racial Bias Preparation Scale

Moral Stress, Organizational Climate, Moral Practice Dilemmas and Attitudes Toward Research

National Center for Research Resources (R21 RR026302-01)

Publication(s)
Fisher, C. B., True, G., Alexander, L. & Fried, A. L. (2013). Moral stress, moral practice and ethical climate in community-based drug use research: views from the frontline. American Journal of Bioethics: Primary Research. 4(3), 27–38. 
National Center for Research Resources (#1 R21 RR026302-01)

Scale(s) and Measure(s)
The Moral Stress, Organizational Climate, Moral Practice Dilemmas and Attitudes Toward Research Measures include the following Community Research Worker measures: (1) Research Moral Stress Scale (RMSS); (2) Research Ethics Climate Scale (RECS); (3) Organizational Research Support Scale (ORSS); (4) Research Commitment Index (RCI); (5) Research Mistrust Index (RMI); and (6) Research Moral Dilemmas Scale (RMDS).

Participant Perspectives on Drug Use/HIV Testing Research Ethics

Publication(s)
Fisher C. B. (2010). Enhancing HIV vaccine trial consent preparedness among street drug users. Journal of empirical research on human research ethics : JERHRE, 5(2), 65–80.

Fisher C. B. (2011). Addiction research ethics and the Belmont principles: do drug users have a different moral voice?. Substance use & misuse, 46(6), 728–741.

Fisher, C. B., & Goodman, S. J. (2009). Goodness-of-fit ethics for non-intervention research involving dangerous and illegal behaviors. In D.Buchanan, C. B. Fisher, & L. Gable (Eds.), Research with high-risk populations: Balancing science, ethics, and law (pp. 25–46). Washington, DC: APA Books. 

Fisher, C. B., Oransky, M., Mahadevan, M., Singer, M., Mirhej, G., & Hodge, G. D. (2008). Marginalized populations and drug addiction research: Realism, mistrust, and misconception. IRB: Ethics & Human Research, 30(3), 1–9. PMID:18814439.

Oransky, M., Fisher, C. B., Mahadevan, M., & Singer, M. (2009). Barriers and opportunities for recruitment for non-intervention studies on HIV risk: Perspectives of street drug users. Substance Use & Misuse, 44, 1642–1659. PMID: 9938935.

Educational Vignettes

Participant Perspectives on HIV/Drug Research Ethics
This National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)-funded research project (R01DA015649) co-directed by Dr. Celia Fisher, Fordham University and Dr. Merrill Singer, University of Connecticut was conducted in collaboration with Housing Works, a New York City-based social service and advocacy group serving homeless individuals who are living with or at high risk for HIV/AIDS.

Rethinking Individual and Group Harms in the Age of Genomics and Big Data

Publication(s)
Fisher, C. B., & Layman, D. M. (2020). Genomics, big data, and broad consent: A New Ethics Frontier for Prevention Science. In K. Phillips, D., Yamamoto, D., & L. Racz, (Eds.). Total Exposure Health: An Introduction, (pp. 307-322).  Boca Raton, Fl: Taylor & Francis Group.

Fisher, C., & Layman, D. (2018). Genomics, big data, and broad consent: A new ethics frontier for prevention science. Prevention Science, 19(7), 871-879. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11121-018-0944-z

Presentation(s)
Fisher, C.B. (2017, October). Rethinking Individual and Group Harms in the Age of Genomics and Big Data. Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai IRB Retreat, New York Academy of Medicine.

Fisher, C.B. & Layman, D. M. (2019, March).  Genomics, Big Data, and Broad Consent: A New Frontier for Developmental Scientists. Poster session presented Society for Research on Child Development, Baltimore, MD.

Layman, D.M. & Fisher, C.B. (2019, August). Genomics, Big Data, and Broad Consent: A New Frontier for Psychologists. Poster session presented at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association, Chicago, IL.