Informed consent of 16- to 18-year-old participants in evaluations

Abstract

Ethics policies require parental consent for "children" less than 18 years old. This article examines whether parental consent should be required for youth aged 16 to 18 years. It examines the current position of youth vis-à-vis services, informed-consent requirements, the quality of parental consent, and youths' legal and developmental capacity to consent. It concludes that youth have the capacity to consent. Recommendations are made to revise the parental-consent policy and to address the impacts of stress, emotion, and inexperience on youth's decision making at all evaluation process.