Parent and adolescent perceived need for parental consent involving research with minors
A. Sikand, H. Schubiner and P. M. Simpson
Division of Adolescent Medicine, Children's Hospital of Michigan, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, USA.
OBJECTIVE: To assess parents' and adolescents' perceived need for parental
consent for minor adolescents to participate in minimal risk research
studies based on procedural invasiveness (anonymous surveys, interviews,
and blood or urine testing) and sensitivity of the topics (sexuality, drug
and alcohol use, and sexually transmitted diseases and human
immunodeficiency virus [HIV]). METHODS: An anonymous self-report
questionnaire was administered to 100 adolescent-parent pairs at 2 clinical
sites (urban and suburban) of Children's Hospital of Michigan in Detroit.
RESULTS: By invasiveness of the research procedure, the proportions of
parents and adolescents who perceived a need for parental consent were as
follows: face-to-face interviews, 62% vs 48%; telephone interviews, 72% vs
46%; blood or urine testing, 77% vs 62%; and blood testing for HIV status,
78% vs 59%. These differences were only significant for telephone
interviews and HIV blood testing. For anonymous surveys, a minority of
parents (33%) and adolescents (26%) reported that parental consent was
needed. Based on sensitivity of the research topics, the proportions of
parents and adolescents who perceived a need for parental consent were as
follows: sexuality, 60% vs 34%; drug and alcohol use, 56% vs 44%;
contraception, 62% vs 46%; and sexually transmitted diseases and HIV
testing, 56% vs 52%. These differences were only significant for sexuality.
Parents with higher education believed that teens could give their own
consent (P < .05). Fifty-seven percent of parents and their teens agreed
that parental consent for anonymous surveys was not necessary. For more
invasive procedures and more sensitive topics, the percentage of
disagreement ranged from 28% to 55.5%. CONCLUSIONS: There is a greater
perceived need for parental consent to adolescent participation in research
studies among parents than among teens for more invasive procedures and
more sensitive topics. These results suggest the need for sensitivity to
differing adolescent and parental perceived need for parental consent for a
minor adolescent to participate in such studies. Further studies with
larger samples are needed to determine what factors influence diverse
parent and adolescent opinions.
