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Abstract
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Objective: To review and synethize the research material on
focus groups with children and adolescents and to provide guidelines for
future development.Methods: Psychlit, Medline, and Cinahl electronic
databases, as well as the reference lists of those articles consulted, were
reviewed for information regarding focus groups with participants under the
age of 18 years. Both empirical and methodological articles were part of this
review.Results: We review the utility of focus groups for
exploratory research, program evaluation, program development, and
questionnaire construction or adaptation. Based on previous research, we
provide guidelines for focus groups with children and adolescents and outline
suggestions for future development.Conclusions: There is evidence to suggest that focus groups
are a valuable means of eliciting children's views on health-related matters,
given an appropriate research question. However, empirical research is
required in order to investigate systematically the effect of different
processes and variables on the final outcome of focus group interviews. |