Research Participation of Minor Adolescents in Foster Care

Study objective: In this study we evaluated published studies about foster care to: (1) determine the types of data used; (2) describe the degree to which a sexual/reproductive health topic was addressed; and (3) 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 4 data source categories: primary, secondary, peripheral, or perspective data. Articles with a primary data source were coded for participant ages: only 9 years old and younger, 10- to 17-year-olds (minor adolescents), and only 18 years old and older. 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, 72/176 (41%) used primary data, 53/176 (30%) used secondary data, and 51/176 (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 on 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.