Chabot Cathy, Shoveller Jean A, Spencer Grace, Johnson Joy L
Youth Sexual Health Team, School of Population and Public Health, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC.
J Empir Res Hum Res Ethics. 2012 Apr;7(2):20-33. doi: 10.1525/jer.2012.7.2.20.
Debates over how to determine age of consent for youth to participate in research feature prominently in the practice of researchers, research ethics boards (REBs), and community decision makers working with youth. In particular, tensions can arise over how the ethical principles of beneficence, autonomy, and justice are interpreted and applied in research involving young people. We discuss our experiences obtaining ethical approval to conduct a participatory action research project involving youth and the differences of opinion we encountered regarding underage youth's capability to make informed consent. We suggest that researchers, REBs, and community decision makers all share a responsibility to conduct proactive outreach to youth participants, so that they are adequately informed of their rights related to research.
关于如何确定青少年参与研究的同意年龄的争论，在研究人员、研究伦理委员会（REB）以及与青少年合作的社区决策者的实践中尤为突出。特别是，在涉及年轻人的研究中，如何解释和应用 beneficence（行善）、autonomy（自主）和 justice（公正）等伦理原则可能会产生紧张关系。我们讨论了我们在获得伦理批准以开展一个涉及青少年的参与式行动研究项目时的经历，以及我们在未成年青少年做出知情同意的能力方面遇到的不同意见。我们建议，研究人员、REB 和社区决策者都有责任积极主动地与青少年参与者进行沟通，以便他们充分了解与研究相关的权利。
