Psychological Factors Related to Genetic Testing

Genetic testing is a medical procedure that enables detection of inherited disorders and risk factors for certain pathological :processes:. Its-application; which will likely be part of standard medical care in the future, opehs up many psychological, ethical; legal and other questions concerning ! the. gains and risks-asociated,with genetic diagnostics. Three types:of genetic testing diagnostic,predictive and carrier - are,described here together with;their purpose, mode of implementation and a list of some of the diseases which they. might detect. In addition; results of Many contemporary studies predictors in the decision-making process "for" and 1 "against" genetic testing are presented: Finally, there is a discussion of results obtained in studies investigating emotional,'behavioral and social,outcomes of genetic testing and the pschological consequences:of the results of such a medical procedure A review of the literature does not indicate any long-term effects of. information obtained by genetic testing and suggests that emotional reactions are milder and more short-term than expected no Matter what kind of genetic testing is used. In addition, behavioral outcomes are often not in accordance with the pre-testing intention. The article concludes with a discussion on methodological difficulties in this field, suggestions of guidelines for future studies and practical recommendations for clinical work.