Understanding adolescents: a guide for researchers

The research establishment often has a "one size fits all" mentality with regard to the research process (Broome, Richards, & Hall, 2001). Consent processes are standardized, and federal regulations have been established to protect both adults and children. As a research population, however, adolescents often are conceptualized as children. Adolescents represent a vulnerable study population. To effectively and ethically involve adolescents in research, researchers must understand and integrate knowledge of the variability in physical, cognitive, and psychosocial developmental factors, as well as an understanding of the research processes needed to protect adolescents. Adolescents need to be active participants in the decision-making process (e.g., assent/consent, knowledge of the risks and benefits, etc.). Researchers must be aware of and accountable for the power they hold in influencing adolescents' decisions to participate in research, and they must bear in mind that the voluntary and informed consent principles may be easily and inadvertently violated (Nelson & Rushton, 2001).