Guidelines to aid ethical committees considering research involving children.

The following Guidelines to aid ethical committees considering research involving children*, proposed by the Working Party have been accepted by the Council of the BPA.These guidelines presume that four premises are accepted.That research involving children is important for the benefit of all children and should be sup- ported and encouraged, and conducted in an ethical manner.That research should never be done on children if the same investigation could be done on adults.That research which involves a child and is of no benefit to that child (non-therapeutic research), is not necessarily either unethical or illegal.'That the degree of benefit resulting from a research should be assessed in relation to the risk of disturbance, discomfort, or pain-the 'Risk/Benefit ratio'.Defining 'Risk' Risk, in this context, means the risk of causing physical disturbance, discomfort or pain, or psychological disturbance to the child or his parents, rather than the risk of serious harm, which no ethical committee would countenance in any case.