Ethics and research : methodological issues in health research with children

Legal recognition of children's rights and the spread of Childhood Studies, which deal with the child as an active and competent subject with agency, have given rise to an extensive debate about methodology in social sciences. A new way of exploring the world of children has emerged and placed them at the very heart of research studies. However, carrying out research with children, especially in the health sector, raises a number of difficult ethical issues that highlight the need for a reflexive approach to research. Specifically, we will analyse several aspects of research, such as consent to participation, privacy and confidentiality, and attention to children's voices, by starting from the debate in the international literature and from some health research experiences with children, with the aim of providing useful reflections for health research with adults as well. [Publisher's text].