“I Don’t Want My Child to Be a Guinea Pig”: Reasons for Non-Participation in a Parental Tobacco Cessation Trial in the Pediatric Emergency Department Setting

(1) Background: Pediatric emergency department (PED) settings are opportune venues in which to recruit parental smokers into tobacco cessation interventions. However, the barriers associated with parents’ participation in PED-based cessation trials are unknown. The objective was to explore parents’ reasons for non-participation in a PED-based tobacco cessation trial. (2) Methods: We employed the framework method and conducted a qualitative data analysis of parental smokers who were eligible to participate in a PED-based tobacco cessation trial and did not choose to participate (n = 371). (3) Results: Two main themes emerged about reasons for non-participation: (a) Not interested in participating in a research study, and (b) concerns specific to the study. Parents had various reasons for not participating in the cessation trial including not being interested in quitting, parents’ health and well-being, parents’ beliefs about research, and time required for the study and follow-up visits. (4) Conclusion: General disinterest and specific study-related concerns were touted as reasons for non-participation in a PED-based tobacco cessation trial. Given the potential reductions in tobacco-related morbidity to both parents and children that tobacco control interventions can facilitate, future tobacco interventions should consider alterations in study design and recruitment strategies to encourage all eligible parental smokers to participate.