Caregiver Consent in Research on Minors: Towards an Inclusive, Hybrid Approach Running Head: Consent Approaches in Human Behavior Research

Abstract

Most research with minors currently requires active caregiver consent. This is important as minors may lack the power, education, and resources to protect themselves. Yet, this approach comes at a big cost: it reduces research quality—reducing participation rates and leading to biased samples—and unduly restrains youth’s right to informed, autonomous decision-making. This goes against the best interest and rights of youth, their caregivers, and society at large. In this commentary, we propose a hybrid research ethics strategy, which may help to strike a better balance between meeting ethical responsibilities (protecting minors from involuntary or unconsented participation) and safeguarding research quality and youth’s right to autonomous decisionmaking. This strategy allows the use of active, informed consent from caregivers where needed, and ‘passive’ (opt-out) consent in cases where youth can make autonomous and well-informed decisions to participate in research.