Table 3.

Reasons teens were unwilling or uncertain about allowing researchers to contact their parents for consent purposes (N = 166).

Theme	N (%)	Example responses
Teen privacy	55(33)	●“They don't know about my problem and I want to keep it that way.” ●“I'm not open about my issues with my parents”
Parents lack an understanding of mental health or are unaware of the problem	38 (23)	●“I am not sure they would approve, seeing as they don't necessarily believe in mental health problems. Also, mental health is stigmatized in my family.” ●“They don't know about my eating disorder”
Teen is concerned about parents' reaction/response	34 (20)	●“I don't want them to worry more about me” ●“They would be concerned/annoyed that I've never talked to them about this before”
Teen autonomy	26 (16)	●“I do not like or trust my parents and I don't want them involved in this” ●“I feel old enough to make my own decisions about apps I'd like to try out”
Poor parent-teen relationship	17 (10)	●“My family would never let me get help. A lot of parents don't care about whether their kid is hurting or not. This won't work if you make people tell their families. It just won't”. ●“My parents can be judgmental at some points so I don't want them to tell me something about wanting to try something new”.
Parent would not want the teen to participate in research	13 (8)	●“They might think it's a scam and say no” ●“My parents might not be open to me participating in such a study or understanding of how I might benefit from such an app”
Fears about online security/privacy	3 (2)	●“I am not sure that this survey is really trustworthy or that they would want me taking it” ●“I do not know what kind of information they will be collecting, so I am undecided”