ArticleEuropean journal of human genetics : EJHG2014
Clarifying assent in pediatric research.
Article in European journal of human genetics : EJHG, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 28 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
28 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Experiences and perspectives of children and adolescents participating in pediatric clinical trials: a qualitative evidence synthesis.Archives of public health = Archives belges de sante publique · 2026Pooled it
- Risk and surrogate benefit for pediatric Phase I trials in oncology: A systematic review with meta-analysis.PLoS medicine · 2018Pooled it
- Understanding Ethical Issues of Research Participation From the Perspective of Participating Children and Adolescents: A Systematic Review.Worldviews on evidence-based nursing · 2017Pooled it
- Reimagining Assent: When Things Get Lost in Translation in International Pediatric Research.Asian bioethics review · 2025Article
- HIV interventions across the care continuum for adolescents in high-burden countries: a systematic review and meta-analysis.EClinicalMedicine · 2024Article
- Pushing past distractions to move toward assent-based practice and science: a response to Newcomb and Wine.International journal of developmental disabilities · 2023Article
- How to approach and take care of minor adolescents whose situations raise ethical dilemmas? a position paper of the European academy of pediatrics.Frontiers in pediatrics · 2023Review
- Assent, parental consent and reconsent for health research in Africa: thematic analysis of national guidelines and lessons from the SickleInAfrica registry.BMC medical ethics · 2022Article
- Age-Appropriate Advance Care Planning in Children Diagnosed with a Life-Limiting Condition: A Systematic Review.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Review
- Paediatric biobanking for health: The ethical, legal, and societal landscape.Frontiers in public health · 2022Review
- Sharing and Safeguarding Pediatric Data.Frontiers in genetics · 2022Article
- Children's Understanding of Informed Assents in Research Studies.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Article
- Assent and consent in adolescent research: teachers' perspectives from a developing country.Heliyon · 2020Article
- How should assent to research be sought in low income settings? Perspectives from parents and children in Southern Malawi.BMC medical ethics · 2019Article
- A Tale of Two Capacities: Including Children and Decisionally Vulnerable Adults in Biomedical Research.Frontiers in genetics · 2019Article
- Ethical considerations of researchers conducting pediatric clinical drug trials: a qualitative survey in two Belgian university children's hospitals.European journal of pediatrics · 2018Article
- Parental Perceptions About Informed Consent/Assent in Pediatric Research in Jordan.Journal of empirical research on human research ethics : JERHRE · 2017Article
- The social dimension of biobanking: objectives and challenges.Life sciences, society and policy · 2017Article
- Personalized assent for pediatric biobanks.BMC medical ethics · 2016Article
- Child's objection to non-beneficial research: capacity and distress based models.Medicine, health care, and philosophy · 2016Article
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Assent is a relatively young term in research ethics, but became an often mentioned ethical requirement in current pediatric research guidelines. Also, the European Society of Human Genetics considers assent an important condition for the inclusion of children in biobanks. However, although many emphasize the importance of assent, few explain how they understand the concept and few have elaborated on the underlying grounds. In this paper, we will discuss the different underlying ethical principles of assent. In the first category, assent appears to be derived from informed consent. This understanding is grounded in respect for autonomy and protection against harm. We conclude that this interpretation of assent is not of added value as a majority of children cannot be considered competent to make autonomous decisions. In addition, other safeguards are more appropriate to protect children against harm. The grounds from the second category can be classified as engagement grounds. These grounds do justice to the specifics of childhood and are of added value. Furthermore, we argue that it follows that both the content and the process of assent should be adjusted to the individual child. This can be referred to as personalized assent. Personalized assent is an appeal to the moral responsibility and integrity of the researcher.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.