Children may adopt parents’ perception of the illness and comply with bogus symptoms [3]. Thus they may acquiesce or even collude in the falsification [1]. Despite this it remains important that the child is asked for their account [3]. This may result in a disclosure or an account at variance with the carer’s.
The range of collusive behaviours includes [2]:
Collusion occurs for many reasons, e.g. naivety, fear of abandonment, re-enforcing of the relationship with their caregiver when the sick role is adopted [3].
These are complex interactions which are likely to require a full family assessment.