Adolescent consent
Research type
Research Study
Full title
A qualitative study of adolescents' views on consent to participate in clinical research
IRAS ID
316320
Contact name
Esther Crawley
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Research Governance Team
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 1 months, 0 days
Research summary
This study aims to explore the values and feelings of young people aged 14-17 regarding their consent to participate in medical research. Young people over the age of 16 are able to consent to participate in medical research without consent from their parents provided they are competent. There is currently no statute or regulation governing how consent should be obtained or who consent should be obtained from for young people under 16 for medical research that does not involve a new medication or device. Consent is often obtained from parents, rather than the adolescent themselves. Young people aged 14-17 may appreciate input from their parents, or they might have different views on how their consent should be obtained. This study will use a story completion method, where adolescent participants are provided with a prompt for a scenario, and they can then complete what they feel should happen next. The views of 14-17 year olds will be explored in a 20-minute interview, with further data being gathered from written responses from online participants. We will conduct thematic analyses. This will provide a guide for future researchers considering how to approach obtaining consent from adolescents and young people. This study is taking place at the University of Bristol.
REC name
London - Chelsea Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
22/PR/0978
Date of REC Opinion
10 Aug 2022
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion