Approaches to consent in public health research in secondary schools.

ABSTRACT:

Objectives

We assess different approaches to seeking consent in research in secondary schools.

Design

We review evidence on seeking active versus passive parent/carer consent on participant response rates and profiles. We explore the legal and regulatory requirements governing student and parent/carer consent in the UK.

Results

Evidence demonstrates that requiring parent/carer active consent reduces response rates and introduces selection biases, which impact the rigour of research and hence its usefulness for assessing young people's needs. There is no evidence on the impacts of seeking active versus passive student consent but this is likely to be marginal when researchers are directly in communication with students in schools. There is no legal requirement to seek

SUBMITTER: Bonell C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10277123 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature