Table 4.

Preference for Timing of Parental Involvement in the Assent Process

Theme	Representative Quote
Teen decides before involving parent	“I would feel uncomfortable like going through that with my mom, and then I’m going to have to hear her giving like, you know, the whole speech….”
	“Because I don’t really like talking to my mom about personal stuff like that, so I probably would go by myself and then talk to her about it.”
	“I think less would want to do it with their parents, because most teens like, like to do things by themselves, more independent, than depend on their parents.”
Teen decides together with parent	“Maybe to you it’s important for them to be there for you and get their thoughts on everything.”
	“Because they probably know better than you do.”
	“And maybe they know something about a certain reaction you’ll have to a certain medicine that you don’t know about, but your doctor and your mother know about it, and then you find out after the fact.”