Research consent from young people in resource-poor settings

Area of Science:

• Bioethics
• Clinical Research Ethics
• Child and Adolescent Health

Background:

• International guidelines require parental consent for minors in research.
• Mature minors, especially in low-income settings, are often excluded from beneficial research due to parental unavailability or refusal.
• This exclusion leads to under-representation of these populations in clinical research.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose a framework for allowing mature minors to consent to research participation independently.
• To address the ethical challenges of excluding minors who can provide valid consent but lack parental permission.
• To advocate for the inclusion of mature minors in research when ethically appropriate and beneficial.

Main Methods:

• The paper presents an ethical argument for the self-consent of mature minors.
• It outlines criteria for assessing minor competence, voluntariness, and decision-making capacity.
• It emphasizes the importance of an appropriate research context and trained consent takers.

Main Results:

• The study argues that mature minors meeting specific criteria should be permitted to consent to research.
• These criteria include competence, maturity, voluntary and independent decision-making, and appropriate research conditions.
• The proposed approach allows for self-consent regardless of age, provided ethical standards are met.

Conclusions:

• Allowing mature minors to consent to research participation is ethically justifiable in certain situations.
• This approach can increase research inclusivity and ensure access to potentially beneficial studies for minors.
• Ethical review boards should consider enabling self-consent for mature minors under defined conditions.