Fabricated or induced illness: From "Munchausen by proxy" to child and family-oriented action.
Child Abuse Negl
; 108: 104649, 2020 10.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-32805620
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
In fabricated or induced illness (FII), a child is harmed due to caregiver(s) behaviour and actions, carried out to convince mainly doctors that the child's physical and/or psychological health is more impaired than in reality. Harm is caused directly by the caregivers(s) and also often inadvertently by doctors' responses.OBJECTIVES:
To describe dynamics underlying FII; wider definition of FII; alerting signs for early recognition of possible FII; respective responsibilities of health, social care, education.METHODS:
Literature review, clinical experience, expert opinion. RESULTS ANDCONCLUSIONS:
Caregivers are motivated by gain from having their child treated as ill, and/or by erroneous beliefs about their child's health, either way needing medical confirmation about their contentions. Their behaviour is therefore directed primarily towards doctors. Most cases of FII present unexplained discrepancies between caregiver reports/actions and independent observations of the child. More rarely, the child has actual signs of illness, induced by the caregiver, occasionally fatal. Children are harmed in all aspects of life health, daily functioning including education, and psychologically. Harm emanates directly from the caregiver(s) but also unintentionally from medical responses. Illness induction and clear deception by the caregiver require immediate child protection. Otherwise, the initial focus is on assessing the child's current health and functioning rather than caregiver's mental health. If, beyond verified illness, there is no medical explanation for the child's reported ill-health, the family require help to function better. This requires co-ordinated, multidisciplinary rehabilitation and long-term monitoring. If caregivers refuse rehabilitation, child protection is required. Several unanswered questions remain.Palabras clave
Texto completo:
1
Colección:
01-internacional
Base de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Síndrome de Munchausen Causado por Tercero
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Cuidadores
Tipo de estudio:
Diagnostic_studies
Límite:
Child
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Female
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Humans
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Male
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Child Abuse Negl
Año:
2020
Tipo del documento:
Article