Incentives for children in research.
OBJECTIVE
To describe the challenges of using incentives for children in research.


METHODS
A discussion of incentives in the context of recruitment for research, including a review of the literature, a description of the types of incentives used with children and their families, factors influencing choice of incentives and ethical considerations. Recommendations to guide decisions about incentives are proposed.


CONCLUSIONS
Since the 1997 mandate from the U.S. National Institutes of Health that investigators provide justification for excluding children, researchers have become more willing to include children. Whether all parts of the research process pertain to children without careful consideration and adaptation is unclear. One area lacking clarity is the use of incentives to encourage participation in research. The issue of incentives for children or parents should be considered early in the design of the research proposal, with attention to developmental age, ethical considerations, purpose of the research, and burden to the child and family.
Rice
Marti
M
School of Nursing, 1530 3rd Ave. South, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA. ricem@son.uab.edu
Broome
Marion E
ME
D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D002648:Child; D002657:Child Development; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002755:Choice Behavior; D005190:Family / Q000523:psychology; D006805:Human Experimentation / Q000941:ethics / Q000592:standards; D006801:Humans; D008960:Models, Psychological; D009042:Motivation; D033282:Parental Consent; D018579:Patient Selection / Q000941:ethics; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D000297:Psychology, Adolescent / Q000941:ethics; D002666:Psychology, Child / Q000941:ethics; D012051:Reimbursement Mechanisms; D012107:Research Design