Predictors of Parental Consent for Adolescent Participation in Sexual Health–Related Research

Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to describe the degree to which parents of adolescents were willing to grant consent for their teenagers’ participation in sexually themed research, and to link the likelihood of consent to parents’ demographics, personality traits, parenting, attitudes, and their children’s characteristics. A total of 203 parents of adolescents ages 13 to 18 years anonymously responded to an internet survey (81.7% mothers; 87% European American). Approximately 40% of respondents were possibly willing and 36% were definitely willing to provide consent for a hypothetical study covering all included sexual health topics. Parents were more likely to give consent if they were highly extraverted, viewed science positively, were not highly conservative about sexuality, and if they thought their teenager was already sexually experienced. Overall, many parents appear to be quite open to adolescent survey participation.