Childrenʼs consent

In order to review the literature on children's consent, we need to be clear about the concepts involved. This paper attempts to define some of these concepts, and to point out the need to distinguish legal from clinical use of terms. It will review the sparse recent empirical research in this area, and also highlight two important papers describing new approaches to children's consent. The authors suggest that children's competence is not all-or-nothing, but is gradually developed. They suggest using both individual and systemic models in concert when obtaining consent from children. There is a need for more empirical research into children's consent, particularly in the field of mental health.