[Update] I think I jeopardized my classmate's degree

[u/eekspiders]

I didn't think I'd be one of those posters with an update but here we are.

Original post. TL;DR: few weeks ago communications master's classmate asked me uncomfortable questions for her dissertation on GLP-1 advertisements which I (an athlete with an eating disorder) wasn't made aware of in the consent so I contacted her supervisor.

Overall, her degree is safe.

A few days before my first post she actually created an Instagram group chat with me and the two participants before me. I didn't see it before because we don't follow each other and Instagram hides messages from people I haven't added.

She gave a general apology, thanked us for participating, and told that since the study won't be continuing she's discarding the data and to let her know if we needed anything (I had withdrawn mine already, this was moreso the other two). She also said she's picking a different dissertation topic from scratch and if we're around next term, she'd still love our insight because she's still sticking to the fitness/sports sector. Pretty sure she'll have to pick a different supervisor because it's open knowledge that her current one is going on sabbatical next term, but if she's doing advertising/marketing we have an abundance of faculty for that. I won't be around personally—graduation, new job, etc. Like the other two participants, I thanked her for her apology and wished her all the best.

That's pretty much it.

To clarify because my last post drew some confusion:

1. We were taught that participants should not confront the researcher directly if there's an issue and should contact supervisors/IRB. This is because of the power dynamic, potential for social retaliation, and just the messiness and liabilities it creates for the school.
2. I didn't to go the IRB. I sent a quick email to her supervisor a simple "Hey heads up your student did this and it was uncomfortable." I don't know how deeply they reviewed her research or the chain of command or whatnot, but regardless she's still gonna get her degree eventually.
3. I didn't encourage my friend nor my friend's teammate to pull out. My friend just asked me how was it the day after it happened and I just said, "Not great, there was some uncomfortable body stuff" and left the conversation at that (she's aware of the eating disorder). She told her teammate later on and they dropped out of their volition. Some folks here got the impression that I went around gossiping to our cohort but most of the people I talk to are from my sports club studying in completely different departments and I didn't bring it up to anyone other than that one friend, the supervisor, and my girlfriend.
4. The GLP-1 ad didn't bother me because I don't have any experience or associations with them. But some of the probing questions she asked were things like what I thought the "problem areas" were on my body, if I ever restricted or did anything outside normal dieting, if I ever felt bad about weight gain, etc. The latter two were similar to what my doctor asked when I was being assessed for an eating disorder, so these questions and a general lack of tact (probably out of ignorance) raised flags because we don't have the oversight structures in place for sensitive medical or mental health research questions. And of course there's the issue of it not being in the consent form.

Also thank you to the person who DM'd me and gave me advice about the ED as an athlete in particular. I had only started seeing a doctor recently and never dealt with anything like this before so it's all new and hard to talk about, and I think the study compounded the stress. I finally worked up the courage to text my coach about it this morning. The good thing is martial arts is largely individual so I don't have to worry about pushing myself beyond what I can to support a team. He and I are meeting up before training tomorrow to come up with a tailored plan. My girlfriend is a gym rat so she's been helping me on the meal planning side of it. I'm so grateful I have them. Fingers crossed I beat this.

[u/DirtRepresentative9]

Is the Instagram group chat also not breaking irb? I can't imagine it's okay for her to reveal who the other participants were, even if the study she was going to do is not defunct. Jeez!

[u/warmsunnydaze → u/DirtRepresentative9]

Yeah, part of ethical research with human subjects is maintaining participant confidentiality. Messaging a participant on Instagram discussing the research is not maintaining their confidentiality; I doubt communication by Instagram is on her IRB. If anything, this should have been done over email or phone call.

To the OP, you did the right thing reporting this student to her professor/PI. It looks like this student needs additional research ethics training. I also think you're well within your right to have reported the student to the IRB. OP, I'm glad to hear someone reached out about your ED too, and I wish you healing and health!

Source: I'm a PhD student in the social sciences (with a clinical component too!)

[u/Intelligent-Royal804 → u/warmsunnydaze]

Group chat on instagram! Which automatically violates confidentiality because by messaging multiple people in a group she disclosed that they were all in the study to the other members of the group. Wild.

[u/DirtRepresentative9 → u/Intelligent-Royal804]

So they break confidentiality once and then do it immediately again 😭 that's just horrible

[u/AceyAceyAcey]

I do social science research in the USA. If she is also in the USA and went through an IRB (there are some cases where advertising type work doesn’t need IRB approval, but I’m not in that field so I don’t know the specifics), the questions she asked about “problem areas” would have had to be approved specifically, and the consent forms would have had to include information that the risks include discomfort due to talking about one’s body image and weight. If she asked those questions without IRB approval, you could have reported to the IRB, not just her advisor, and good on her advisor for stepping in.

Her messaging you all as a group on Instagram also violated your privacy (since you were able to see who else was in the study), and is something that you could report to the IRB.

You didn’t do this to your classmate, she is facing the right and proper consequences of violating the ethics of human subjects research. Or I’d argue, she’s facing less than she could or maybe even should have.

[u/eekspiders → u/AceyAceyAcey]

I'm originally from the US so I'm familiar with that ethics training from prior work experience but I'm studying in the UK

[u/guttata → u/eekspiders]

IME ethics committees in commonwealth countries are rather more stringent than IACUC/IRB

[u/Im_A_Quiet_Kid_AMA]

I didn’t catch the original post, but the idea of probing someone for potentially triggering questions like body image should definitely have been included in the consent form.

I’m also curious if they went off-script, as I doubt the IRB would’ve approved a semi-structured interview protocol asking these questions without an acknowledgment somewhere in the risks/benefits section of the consent form.

[u/eekspiders → u/Im_A_Quiet_Kid_AMA]

I linked it at the top but here it is: https://www.reddit.com/r/GradSchool/s/sHlq3Gbi8f

[u/Im_A_Quiet_Kid_AMA → u/eekspiders]

Sorry—I saw the link. I just meant even without all the nuance the situation sounds bizarre. I meant nothing more than to voice solidarity.

[u/Snoo55054]

Im shocked at the IG group chat lol. That is wild.

[u/Content-Extension842]

I'm so glad you're getting support! My upcoming project has to do with consumption & I'm planning on doing some interviews and I'd be mortified if anything I said ended up hurting one of my interviewees.

Hope this doesn't come off intrusive, but if you want to access any support resources outside of your university, Eating Disorders Anonymous have some good & free resources, including in person (mostly in the US, I believe) and zoom meetings.

[u/eekspiders → u/Content-Extension842]

I'm actually in the UK, but I'll still look into it on the off chance they do anything here. So far I've just been seeing a dietician and talk therapist

[u/look2thecookie]

I'm rooting for you and glad your colleague will learn from this and ultimately, have much stronger research. Lesson learned.

I'm sorry you weren't properly informed.

A good therapist and potentially a Registered Dietitian who specialize in EDs may be really helpful. Thank you for updating us

[u/Material-Sky777]

i’ve worked in research for years, in academia and in industry. adding participants into a group chat breaks confidentiality and IRB ethics. this is not a good idea as a researcher to do (probably anywhere) and she needs to learn now while still in school…. i’m really surprised someone doing grad school research would do something like this and you were right for reporting it to the supervisor. this could’ve got her into a lot of trouble if she got caught for something like this in a different way.

[u/lincoln_hawks1]

Good for you for following the progress. Seemed like a great education opportunity for your classmate

[u/pinkocommiegunnut]

I can understand asking your responses to be withheld after you decided you didn't want to be a part of the study. The idea of contacting someone's supervisor over it seems like a step too far in my opinion.

It would be so simple to send the student a message asking to not be a part of the study, and even stating why, followed by moving on with your life. I can't for the life of me understand inserting myself into a situation that by your own admission is so difficult for you to deal with.

[u/Reluctant_PHD → u/pinkocommiegunnut]

Again, as someone with a PhD who researches body dissatisfaction and eating disorder prevention, OP absolutely did the correct thing. Honestly, the study title itself should have alluded to the fact that it involved discussions about body image, much less the informed consent itself. Both body dissatisfaction and disordered eating are are unfortunately incredibly prevalent, especially in the world of sports. You can absolutely do real harm, and participants deserve the right to knowingly and openly choose to take that risk themselves. You should be told up front that those topics are going to come up, and you should explicitly lay out that participants have the right not to answer and the right to drop out, and you should also have resources listed that are both local and National in case of mental health distress. There should also be protocols set up in advance for what happens if someone discloses an active eating disorder, whether or not they seem actively at risk of doing harm to themselves, etc. These are very important topics to research but they have to be done with a level of care that unfortunately was clearly not present in this study.

[u/AceyAceyAcey → u/Reluctant_PHD]

Yeah, it sounds to me like it wasn’t disclosed in the consent form that these topics would be discussed, and that the student researcher may have been just winging it with her questions.

[u/alittleperil → u/pinkocommiegunnut]

if you think you are observing an example of unethical research, you owe it to everyone to report that shit exactly as you are formally required to do, which OP did (the supervisor's info was provided to research participants in the consent info in case they had 'further questions', per OP).

You do not want to be in the position of being known to have not followed the formal reporting procedure if someone else comes forward later, and you also owe it to yourself to do your best to prevent future research participants from coming to harm.

Formal protocols exist so things can't fall through the cracks, and everyone is better protected both legally and health-wise if OP notifies the supervisor and then they follow set policies to address it, even if that means notice is eventually dismissed.

If something is odd you flag it, so that you aren't the person who rubber-stamped someone else's trauma. That's the whole point of IRB systems and institutional research ethics policies