Substance abuse treatment, prevention, and policy
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Subst Abuse Treat Prev Policy · Jan 2009
EditorialStereotyping and the treatment of missing data for drug and alcohol clinical trials.
Stigma and stereotyping of marginalized groups often is insidious and shows up in unlikely places, for instance in how clinical trials consider dropouts in treatment research. A surprising number of studies presume that people who do not complete the study protocol relapse and code their data as if they had been observed. ⋯ We need to be mindful about our attitudes and preconceptions about the people we are intending to help. There is no good reason to continue to support science built on this scientifically indefensible stereotyping, however unintentional.