Children's Capacity to Agree to Psychological Research: Knowledge of Risks and Benefits and Voluntariness

Abstract

A series of studies investigated the capacity of children between the ages of 7 and 12 to give free and informed consent to participation in psychological research. Children were reasonably accurate in describing the purpose of studies, but many did not understand the possible benefits or especially the possible risks of participating. In several studies children's consent was not affected by the knowledge that their parents had given their permission or by the parents saying that they would not be upset if the children refused. In contrast, other studies found that children were much more likely to stop their participation if the experimenter said explicitly that she would not be upset if they stopped. We suggest that experimenters should pay more attention to describing the possible risks and benefits of participation in research, and that they should also make it clearer to children that they are free to stop once they have begun.

Perception of risk associated with asthma research procedures among adolescents, parents, and pediatricians

“…Previous research has suggested that miscommunication might arise between adolescents and physicians when the probability of risk is described. [14][15][16] One factor contributing to the miscommunication might be a lack of appreciation for some differences in risk perceptions among parents, adolescents, and physicians. Awareness of differences in perspective on risk and benefit, especially for the procedures of venipuncture, experimental medication, and placebo, and attention to clarifying the purpose and probable risks and benefits of these procedures during the consent process will help ensure that parents and adolescents do not overestimate either the risks or benefits associated with asthma research procedures.…”

Children’s Understanding of Their Research Rights before and after Debriefing: Informed Assent, Confidentiality, and Stopping Participation

“…Because our study involved more risk and because we had the benefit of earlier research pointing to aspects of consent that were difficult to understand (Abramovitch et al, 1991(Abramovitch et al, , 1995, we made our assent statements as explicit as possible about confidentiality, voluntary participation, and how to stop participation. Therefore, we expected that greater numbers of children might understand these aspects of research participation than in earlier studies.…”

A developmental approach to child assent for nontherapeutic research

“…However, very few studies have studied the extent to which children are susceptible to undue influence in the research setting. One series of studies concluded that children were not unduly influenced by their parents' prior permission for them to participate in a research study 30 but that children were more likely to withdraw from research participation when they were told in advance that the investigator would not be upset. In the treatment setting, another study demonstrated that younger children were more susceptible to parental influence compared with adolescents and adults, but only for a serious hypothetical treatment decision.…”