Ethical considerations in investigating youth alcohol norms and behaviours: a case for mature minor consent

Abstract

Mature minor consent only became available in Australia in 2007. There is neither an explicitly defined protocol, nor a clear definition evident in the literature relating to use of the mature minor concept in health research. Due to difficulties in defining fixed age ranges to varying levels of maturity and vulnerability, there is a lack of clarity surrounding when it might be reasonable and ethical to apply for or grant a waiver for parental consent. This paper describes the challenges faced and solutions created when gaining approval for use of mature minor consent in a respondent-driven sampling (RDS) study to explore the social norms and alcohol consumption among 14-17-year-old adolescents (n = 1012) in the community. The University's Human Research Ethics Committee granted mature minor consent for this study, and the techniques applied enabled recruitment of adolescents from community-based settings through use of RDS to achieve the required sample. This paper has relevance for research that requires a waiver for parental consent; it presents a case study for assessing mature minors and makes recommendations on how ethical guidelines can be improved to assist human research ethics application processes.

Alcohol and injury risk at a Western Australian school Leavers Festival

“…Participants were provided with information on the aims and objectives of the study, informed of their rights and that the information provided was completely anonymous. Consent to take part in the research was implied by completion of the survey under the assumption that the participant was aware of the research process and use of results . Data collectors remained in sight of participants to support completion of the survey.…”

Potential and Challenges in Collecting Social and Behavioral Data on Adolescent Alcohol Norms: Comparing Respondent-Driven Sampling and Web-Based Respondent-Driven Sampling

“…For each subsequent successful referral, they received an additional AU $10 gift card for a possible total incentive of AU $45. To meet ethics requirements, each participant completed a mature minor assessment and provided verbal and written informed consent to participate [ 27 ]. Participants could cease involvement at any point.…”

“…Data collection officers completed training, which included explanation of the process, the importance of consistency, opportunity to practice the procedure, and a manual outlining the steps and a set of required responses. The project manager met with the data collection officers on a weekly basis to monitor and collect feedback on the progress [ 27 ].…”

“…Throughout the data collection, we faced a number of challenges due to the age of the target population and implications of adhering to the specific RDS methodology and ethical considerations [ 27 ]. The greatest challenge encountered was lack of use of the referral coupons.…”

Ethics and health promotion: research, theory, policy and practice

“…10 Both papers highlight the varied and imaginative ways in which health promotion practitioners contend with the ethical challenges they encounter, and the importance of trust, transparency and reciprocity for ethical practice. These are followed by Janina Hildebrand and colleagues' contribution on research with young people; 11 Lily O'Hara, Jane Taylor and Margaret Barnes' paper on health promotion messages in the 'war on obesity'; 12 and Clare Delany, Caroline Fryer and Gisela van Kessel on health promotion in physiotherapy practice. 13 In each paper there is an explicit attempt to identify the values that underpin health promotion practice and to evaluate their utility.…”