Consenting for themselves: a qualitative study exploring a Gillick Competence assessment to enable adolescents to self-consent to low-risk online research.

BACKGROUND: Providing digital mental health interventions online could expand access to help for young people, but requiring parental consent may be a barrier to participation. We therefore need a method that enables young people <16 years old (ie, presumed competent in the UK) to demonstrate Gillick Competence (understanding of purpose, process, potential benefits and potential harms) to self-consent to online, anonymous, low-risk studies. AIM: To explore whether a new method for assessing Gillick Competence to participate in low-risk, anonymous online studies is acceptable to both young people and parents. METHODS: We interviewed 15 young people aged 13-5 years and 12 parents of this age group in the UK. Using a qualitative approach, we explored the acceptability of a series of multiple-choice questions (MCQs) designed to assess understanding of a specific online self-help research study testing a self-kindness intervention. RESULTS: The MCQ answers that participants gave mostly corresponded with their narrative explanations of their understanding during interviews. Young people and parents thought that the process was empowering and could increase access to research while also promoting independence. However, they emphasised the importance of individual differences and different research contexts and highlighted the need for safeguards to be in place. CONCLUSIONS: The MCQs were acceptable to both young people and parents, providing preliminary evidence for the potential of this process for allowing <16s to self-consent to online, anonymous, low-risk mental health research. Further research is needed to validate the effectiveness of this process among a diverse range of populations and research contexts.