door.donau-uni.ac.at o:6092 DOI 10.1177/16094069251346879 How Best to Perform Co-Research With Children and Adolescents: A Rapid Qualitative Evidence Synthesis In recent years, emphasis has grown on involving children and adolescents in research. Co-research allows these age groups to be equal partners in research, ensures that their perspectives and experiences are considered, and empowers them to express their views and expertise on their own lives. However, involving children and young people in co-research poses complex challenges and raises multifaceted issues. This review provides insights from previous co-research processes and outlines the characteristics of an ideal co-research process. A rapid qualitative evidence synthesis was conducted to synthesize the qualitative research on co-research experiences with children and adolescents. We searched three electronic databases up to May 2023 and carried out supplementary searches. Two reviewers screened 742 abstracts and 169 full-text articles to select studies that met our eligibility criteria. From 48 eligible studies, we sampled 30 to synthesize based on the data richness for qualitative content analysis. Our synthesis highlights key factors that are crucial in co-research processes with children and adolescents. We developed a framework consisting of six key themes: the sociocultural factors, ethics, setting factors, project management, interpersonal factors, and individual factors of the young co-researchers. These themes involve various factors (e.g., children’s and adolescents’ rights, power imbalances, support structures, remuneration/incentives, trust, and time availability) that must be considered. The challenges and facilitators encountered throughout the co-research process were synthesized. In addition, we provide an overview of targeted co-research methods for young age groups, which offers valuable guidance for future co-research initiatives. eng co-research participatory research qualitative research children adolescents participatory methods 2026-02-28T09:57:36.445Z LOMv1.0 Author BEGIN:VCARD VERSION:3.0 N:Seidl;Karolina; FN:Karolina Seidl X-ORCID:https://orcid.org/0009-0007-3658-5097 END:VCARD BEGIN:VCARD VERSION:3.0 N:Wahl;Anna; FN:Anna Wahl X-ORCID:https://orcid.org/0009-0008-5615-1939 END:VCARD BEGIN:VCARD VERSION:3.0 N:Rojatz;Daniela; FN:Daniela Rojatz X-ORCID:https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8782-8913 END:VCARD BEGIN:VCARD VERSION:3.0 N:Affengruber;Lisa; FN:Lisa Affengruber X-ORCID:https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7721-8732 END:VCARD BEGIN:VCARD VERSION:3.0 N:Sommer;Isolde; FN:Isolde Sommer X-ORCID:https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3592-1507 END:VCARD BEGIN:VCARD VERSION:3.0 N:Klerings;Irma; FN:Irma Klerings X-ORCID:https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6644-9845 END:VCARD BEGIN:VCARD VERSION:3.0 N:Gugglberger;Lisa; FN:Lisa Gugglberger X-ORCID:https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7190-6086 END:VCARD BEGIN:VCARD VERSION:3.0 N:Nash;Rosie; FN:Rosie Nash END:VCARD BEGIN:VCARD VERSION:3.0 N:Mahr-Slotawa;Johanna; FN:Johanna Mahr-Slotawa X-ORCID:https://orcid.org/0009-0002-7305-6008 END:VCARD BEGIN:VCARD VERSION:3.0 N:Griebler;Ursula; FN:Ursula Griebler X-ORCID:https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9958-3714 END:VCARD https://w3id.org/kim/hcrt/scheme https://w3id.org/kim/hcrt/text Textdokument Text LOMv1.0 yes https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0 application/pdf 1162392 https://door.donau-uni.ac.at/o:6092 https://door.donau-uni.ac.at/api/object/o:6092/thumbnail LOMv1.0 discipline