| Course | HLTH 8573 Child and Adolescent Health Issues |
|---|---|
| Week | Week 8 |
| Paper type | Consent and assent memo |
| Length | About 610 words, 5 pages |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Walden University |
| Program | PhD in Public Health |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for HLTH 8573 Week 8
Consent and Assent Memo: Whose Agreement Is Sought, Whose Notice Suffices and How Both Shift Between the Eleventh and Eighteenth Birthdays for a School Survey Item on Sadness Put to a 13-Year-Old
Student Name
Walden University
HLTH 8573: Child and Adolescent Health Issues
Instructor Name
Month Day, Year
Consent and Assent Memo: Whose Agreement Is Sought, Whose Notice Suffices and How Both Shift Between the Eleventh and Eighteenth Birthdays for a School Survey Item on Sadness Put to a 13-Year-Old
The Question and the Three Parties
A county health department plans a school-based survey of students in grades 7 through 12. One item asks whether, during the previous twelve months, sadness or hopelessness lasting at least a fortnight led the student to drop some regular activities. Three parties might say yes before a 13-year-old answers: a parent, the adolescent, and the institutional review board deciding whether the parent's yes is needed at all. This memo sets out whose agreement is sought, whose notice suffices and how both change between ages 11 and 18.
The Federal Rule for Research With Children
Under the federal rules for research with children, an IRB must find that adequate provisions are made for the child's assent, meaning the child's affirmative agreement, and for permission from a parent or guardian (45 C.F.R. § 46.408). The rule lets the IRB decide when children are capable of assenting, taking into account age, maturity and psychological state. It also allows the board to waive parental permission when requiring it is not a reasonable way to protect the participants, provided another mechanism protects them. A minimal risk survey with no identifiers may meet that standard.
Active Permission, Passive Notice and Why It Matters
The choice between active permission, where a parent must sign and return a form, and passive notice, where parents are informed and can opt their child out, is not only legal. Liu et al. (2017) pooled fifteen studies of adolescent risk behavior and found that active consent procedures produced lower response rates and samples with fewer African American students and more younger students and girls, and that studies using passive procedures reported higher rates of substance use. Requiring active permission can therefore bias the very estimates the survey exists to produce.
The Society for Adolescent Medicine's guidelines argued that adolescents can often consent for themselves to minimal risk research and that parental permission requirements can exclude the young people most at risk (Santelli et al., 2003). Those guidelines also stress safeguards, such as confidentiality protections and clear opt-out routes.
How Agreement Shifts With Age
Assent becomes more like consent as students age. A 13-year-old should be told plainly what the item asks, that skipping it carries no penalty, and what happens if their answers suggest risk. At 18, the student's own consent is required and sufficient.
Table 1
Whose Agreement Is Sought for the Sadness Item, by Age
| Age | Parent | Adolescent | Review board role | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11-12 | Notice with opt-out, or active permission if the board requires it | Simple assent script read aloud | Decides whether waiver of permission is justified | |
| 13-15 | Notice with opt-out | Written assent with plain explanation of the item and the right to skip | Approves assent wording and referral plan | |
| 16-17 | Notice with opt-out | Assent treated close to consent; full information on confidentiality limits | May permit adolescent consent alone for minimal risk | |
| 18 | None required | Consent as an adult | Standard adult review | |
The table describes the county's proposed plan; any federal funding source, state law and district policy can add requirements.
Two Further Checks
If the survey receives U.S. Department of Education funding, federal pupil-rights rules require prior written parental consent before minors answer items on mental or psychological problems, which would override the opt-out plan for this item. The county should confirm its funding source. Second, the assent script must say what happens if a student's answers suggest risk, since an item on hopelessness may prompt follow-up.
References
Additional protections for children involved as subjects in research, 45 C.F.R. § 46.408 (2024).
Liu, C., Cox, R. B., Jr., Washburn, I. J., Croff, J. M., & Crethar, H. C. (2017). The effects of requiring parental consent for research on adolescents' risk behaviors: A meta-analysis. Journal of Adolescent Health, 61(1), 45-52. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2017.01.015
Santelli, J. S., Smith Rogers, A., Rosenfeld, W. D., DuRant, R. H., Dubler, N., Morreale, M., English, A., Lyss, S., Wimberly, Y., & Schissel, A. (2003). Guidelines for adolescent health research: A position paper of the Society for Adolescent Medicine. Journal of Adolescent Health, 33(5), 396-409. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2003.06.009
The Walden HLTH 8573 Week 8 instructions
Students examine the consent and assent requirements for research or programs involving children and adolescents. Faculty expect an accurate account of the relevant federal rules, distinguishing parental permission from the child's assent and explaining when permission may be waived. The strongest memos go beyond compliance to consider consequences, such as how active consent requirements can change who participates. Most prompts ask students to show how requirements change with age, and a table is an effective way to do this. Faculty also expect attention to other rules that may apply, such as funding-specific requirements or district policies. Clear, practical language about what the young person will be told, including confidentiality limits, shows the memo is ready to use rather than merely correct.
How this HLTH 8573 Week 8 example is built
The memo opens with the survey item and the three parties. A section paraphrases the federal rule on research with children, citing the regulation directly, and explains the board's role in judging capacity to assent and in waiving permission. A section on active and passive procedures cites Liu and colleagues' meta-analysis on response rates and sample composition and Santelli and colleagues' guidelines on adolescent consent and safeguards. Table 1 sets out parent, adolescent and board roles for ages 11 to 12, 13 to 15, 16 to 17 and 18. A paragraph explains how assent approaches consent with age. A final section flags federal pupil-rights rules for Department of Education-funded surveys and the need for a referral plan in the assent script.
HLTH 8573 Week 8 rubric: what earns full marks
Accuracy about the rules is the foundation of the grade, and faculty check that permission, assent and waiver are described correctly. Credit rises when the memo explains the consequences of procedural choices, supported by evidence such as the effect of active consent on sample composition. A table showing how roles change with age earns credit for making the regulation's room for judgment visible. Faculty reward memos that identify other applicable rules, such as funding-specific requirements, and that ask the planner to confirm them. Practical detail about what the adolescent will be told, including the right to skip and what happens if answers suggest risk, shows applied understanding. Overstating what the law requires, or what a minor may agree to alone, costs credit.
HLTH 8573 Week 8 help from the desk
Consent memos often state that parental consent and child assent will be obtained, without explaining what either involves or whether both are required. A better memo opens with the exact question or activity and the ages involved. Describe the federal rule in your own words, including when parental permission can be waived. Look at evidence on how consent procedures affect who takes part, since that shapes your results. Build a table showing how the roles of parent, young person and review board change with age. Check for other rules tied to funding or district policy. Write out what the young person will be told about skipping questions and about follow-up. A consent and assent memo for your own study design can be prepared on request.
Get a HLTH 8573 Week 8 example written to your instructions
Send the Week 8 prompt and rubric, along with the study or program your section built the question around, and a consent and assent memo is drafted for that design, age bands laid out in a table. No charge applies to a first custom sample, which arrives within 24-48 hours and offers no legal conclusions.
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HLTH 8573 Week 8 questions, answered
Does the memo say what a particular state allows minors to consent to?
No. Which services a minor may agree to alone varies from one state to the next and from one kind of service to another, and the memo leaves those determinations to the review board and to counsel. It describes the federal framework and identifies the questions state law would answer. If your prompt names a state, cite that state's statute directly in your own paper rather than relying on a summary.
What is the difference between permission and assent?
In the federal research rules, permission is the agreement a parent or guardian gives on a child's behalf, and assent is the child's own affirmative agreement to take part. Silence or a failure to object does not count as assent. The memo shows how the wording used to seek assent changes as children age, which is where the course's stage argument enters.
Is the county survey an actual study?
It was made up for the memo. The health department, the survey topics and the referral program are all invented, chosen because together they raise every consent question the week covers. Your own memo should address the design in your prompt, and any real study you discuss should be described from its published protocol, not from this page.
Where can I find a free HLTH 8573 Week 8 sample paper?
This page shows the complete Week 8 consent and assent memo, setting out parent, adolescent and review board roles for a school survey item from ages 11 to 18, with three references.
Can a review board waive parental permission for a survey of 13-year-olds?
The federal rules allow it when requiring permission is not a reasonable way to protect the participants and another mechanism protects them instead. A minimal risk survey without identifiers may qualify, but the board makes that judgment.