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The good, the bad, and the utilitarian: attitudes towards genetic testing and implications for disability

The present study focused on the link between the attitudes towards genetic testing and views on selective reproduction choices following genetic testing. First, we explored the potential demographical (age, gender, number of children, relationship status) and personal factors (perceived morality, r...

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Autores principales: Maftei, Alexandra, Dănilă, Oana
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Springer US 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8761521/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35068904
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12144-021-02568-9
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author Maftei, Alexandra
Dănilă, Oana
author_facet Maftei, Alexandra
Dănilă, Oana
author_sort Maftei, Alexandra
collection PubMed
description The present study focused on the link between the attitudes towards genetic testing and views on selective reproduction choices following genetic testing. First, we explored the potential demographical (age, gender, number of children, relationship status) and personal factors (perceived morality, religiosity, parenting intentions, instrumental harm) underlying these attitudes using a specific moral psychology approach, i.e., the two-dimension model of utilitarianism (i.e., instrumental harm and impartial beneficence). Next, we investigated participants’ hypothetical reproduction choices depending on the future child’s potential future condition, assessed through genetic screening. Our sample consisted of 1627 Romanian adults aged 17 to 70 (M = 24.46). Results indicated that one’s perceived morality was the strongest predictor of positive attitudes towards genetic testing, and instrumental harm was the strongest predictor of negative attitudes. Also, more religious individuals with more children had more moral concerns related to genetic testing. Participants considered Down syndrome as the condition that parents (others than themselves) should most take into account when deciding to have children (35%), followed by progressive muscular dystrophy (29.1%) and major depressive disorder (29%). When expressing their choices for their future children (i.e., pregnancy termination decisions), participants’ knowledge about potential deafness in their children generated the most frequent (37.7%) definitive termination decisions (i.e., “definitely yes” answers), followed by schizophrenia (35.8%), and major depressive disorder (35.2%). Finally, we discuss our results concerning their practical implications for disability and prenatal screening ethical controversies.
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spelling pubmed-87615212022-01-18 The good, the bad, and the utilitarian: attitudes towards genetic testing and implications for disability Maftei, Alexandra Dănilă, Oana Curr Psychol Article The present study focused on the link between the attitudes towards genetic testing and views on selective reproduction choices following genetic testing. First, we explored the potential demographical (age, gender, number of children, relationship status) and personal factors (perceived morality, religiosity, parenting intentions, instrumental harm) underlying these attitudes using a specific moral psychology approach, i.e., the two-dimension model of utilitarianism (i.e., instrumental harm and impartial beneficence). Next, we investigated participants’ hypothetical reproduction choices depending on the future child’s potential future condition, assessed through genetic screening. Our sample consisted of 1627 Romanian adults aged 17 to 70 (M = 24.46). Results indicated that one’s perceived morality was the strongest predictor of positive attitudes towards genetic testing, and instrumental harm was the strongest predictor of negative attitudes. Also, more religious individuals with more children had more moral concerns related to genetic testing. Participants considered Down syndrome as the condition that parents (others than themselves) should most take into account when deciding to have children (35%), followed by progressive muscular dystrophy (29.1%) and major depressive disorder (29%). When expressing their choices for their future children (i.e., pregnancy termination decisions), participants’ knowledge about potential deafness in their children generated the most frequent (37.7%) definitive termination decisions (i.e., “definitely yes” answers), followed by schizophrenia (35.8%), and major depressive disorder (35.2%). Finally, we discuss our results concerning their practical implications for disability and prenatal screening ethical controversies. Springer US 2022-01-17 /pmc/articles/PMC8761521/ /pubmed/35068904 http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12144-021-02568-9 Text en © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2021 This article is made available via the PMC Open Access Subset for unrestricted research re-use and secondary analysis in any form or by any means with acknowledgement of the original source. These permissions are granted for the duration of the World Health Organization (WHO) declaration of COVID-19 as a global pandemic.
spellingShingle Article
Maftei, Alexandra
Dănilă, Oana
The good, the bad, and the utilitarian: attitudes towards genetic testing and implications for disability
title The good, the bad, and the utilitarian: attitudes towards genetic testing and implications for disability
title_full The good, the bad, and the utilitarian: attitudes towards genetic testing and implications for disability
title_fullStr The good, the bad, and the utilitarian: attitudes towards genetic testing and implications for disability
title_full_unstemmed The good, the bad, and the utilitarian: attitudes towards genetic testing and implications for disability
title_short The good, the bad, and the utilitarian: attitudes towards genetic testing and implications for disability
title_sort good, the bad, and the utilitarian: attitudes towards genetic testing and implications for disability
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8761521/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35068904
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12144-021-02568-9
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