Adolescent-Parent Dyadic Retention in an Interview Study and Changes in Willingness to Participate in a Hypothetical Microbicide Safety Study

Study objective: In this study we describe adolescent and parent retention and changes in willingness to participate (WTP) in research among adolescents, parents, and adolescent-parent dyads.

Design and setting: Adolescent-parent dyads were recruited to participate in a longitudinal study to assess research participation attitudes using simultaneous individual interviews of the adolescent and parent with a return visit 1 year later using the same interview.

Participants: Adolescents (14-17 years old) and their parents.

Interventions: None.

Main outcome measures: The relationship between participant characteristics and dyad retention was assessed. WTP was measured on a Likert scale and dichotomized (willing/unwilling) to assess changes in WTP attitudes over time for adolescents, parents, and dyads.

Results: Eighty-three percent of the 300 dyads were retained. Dyads in which there was successful contact with the parent before follow-up were more likely to be retained (odds ratio, 4.88; 95% confidence interval, 2.57-9.26). For adolescents at baseline, 59% were willing to participate and 55% were willing to participate at follow-up (McNemar S = 0.91; P = .34). For parents at baseline, 51% were willing to participate and 57% were willing to participate at follow-up (McNemar S = 5.12; P = .02). For dyads at baseline, 57% were concordant (in either direction) and 70% of dyads were concordant at follow-up (McNemar S = 10.56; P = .001).

Conclusion: Over 1 year, parent contact might positively influence successful adolescent retention. Parents become more willing to let their adolescents participate over time, with dyads becoming more concordant about research participation.