Heteronomy in adolescent health: an integrative literature review

Abstract Adolescents’ health rights are not restricted to having their demands understood, but require their being respected as autonomous subjects and the agents of their own care. However, considering adolescents’ rights in terms of their autonomy in the day-to-day of the health care service, the situation is precarious as a result of heteronomy, subjection of the individual to the will of others. A search for articles was conducted in the Scopus, PubMed and BVS databases, cross-referencing with the descriptors: “saúde do adolescente” (“adolescent health”) , “responsabilidade civil” (“civil responsibility”) and “responsabilidade parental”, (“parental responsibility”). After inclusion and exclusion criteria were applied, 32 studies were analysed. The results indicated that adolescents are generally not consulted in parents’ or guardians’ decision making about their health care, and also that the family relationship is established under rules maintained by punishment, accountability and control, while dialogue is neglected. In that light, there is a need for measures to protect and promote autonomy, while academic discussion of the relation between adolescent health and heteronomy, considering the fields of human rights and health, requires more in-depth evaluations with a view to providing legal guidance on parent’s day-to-day role in adolescent health care.