Research Participation of Minor Adolescents in Foster Care

Abstract Study Objective This study evaluated published studies about foster care to a) determine the types of data used; b) describe the degree to which a sexual/reproductive health topic was addressed; and c) describe the consent process. Design Analysis of published literature Setting PubMed was searched using “foster care” for English articles published between January 1, 2017, and September 4, 2019. Participants None Interventions None Main Outcome Measures Articles were coded into four data source categories: primary, secondary, peripheral or perspective data. Articles with a primary data source were coded for participant ages: only ≤ 9 years-old, included 10-17-year-olds (minor adolescents) and only ≥18 years-old. Articles using a secondary data source were coded for the source of the data registry. All articles were coded for presence of a sexual/reproductive health outcome. The primary data articles that included minor adolescents were coded for the study topic and consent process. Results Of the 176 articles about foster care, 72 (41%) used primary data, 53 (30%) used secondary data and 51 (29%) used peripheral/perspective data. Forty-eight of the primary data articles included minor adolescents. Secondary data sources included few national research surveys. Sexual/reproductive health outcomes were measured in 17 articles, 4 of which used primary data. The consent process for minor adolescents varied and had no consistent pattern across studies. Conclusion Research best practices for consent processes and use of registries could be developed to increase research on sexual/reproductive health outcomes among adolescents in foster care.