Munchausen by proxy victims in adulthood: A first look

Child Abuse & Neglect
Volume 19, Issue 9 ,September 1995, Pages 1131-1142

Munchausen by proxy victims in adulthood: A first look

Based on a paper presented at the 1994 Convention of the American Psychological Association


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Department of Psychiatry, Oakland Children's Hospital, Oakland, CA, USA
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Https://doi.org/10.1016/0145-2134(95)00073-H
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Abstract
Very little is known about the long-term impact of Munchausen by Proxy abuse on children, the many victims probably are never identified and most have been lost to follow-up soon after termination of protective services supervision. This exploratory
study examined the childhood experiences and long-term psychological outcomes for 10 adults, ranging from 33 to 71 years of age, who were self-identified victims of illness manufacturing by a parent. Subjects completed a 33-item questionnaire including
demographic and open-ended questions and a checklist of PTSD symptoms, supplemented by telephone interviews. Subjects described a range of experiences from poisonings and induced bone fractures to symptom exaggeration. Subjects generally felt unloved and
unsafe in childhood; A few were directly aware of their parent's deceptions. They made limited attempts to alert others, with little success. Subjects reported significant emotional and physical problems in childhood, and problems in adulthood including
insecurity, reality-testing issues, avoidance of medical treatment and posttraumatic stress symptoms. Most of their siblings were also abused, physically or medically. Some subjects express considerable residual anger towards the abusing mothers, but a
surprising degree of sympathy for the fathers who passively colluded or failed to protect. Some of the MBPS parents have continued fabricating their own medical illnesses or harassing their adult children with fabricated dramas even decades later.
Reality-testing issues, avoidance of medical treatment and posttraumatic stress symptoms. Most of their siblings were also abused, physically or medically. Some subjects express considerable residual anger towards the abusing mothers, but a surprising
degree of sympathy for the fathers who passively colluded or failed to protect. Some of the MBPS parents have continued fabricating their own medical illnesses or harassing their adult children with fabricated dramas even decades later. Reality-testing
issues, avoidance of medical treatment and posttraumatic stress symptoms. Most of their siblings were also abused, physically or medically. Some subjects express considerable residual anger towards the abusing mothers, but a surprising degree of sympathy
for the fathers who passively colluded or failed to protect. Some of the MBPS parents have continued fabricating their own medical illnesses or harassing their adult children with fabricated dramas even decades later.

Summarizes
French abstract not available at time of publication.

Summary
Little is known about the long-term impact of child abuse by Munchausen's power, as many of the victims are probably never identified and most have been lost to follow-up very soon after completion of supervision of protective services . This exploratory
study examined children's experiences and long-term psychological outcomes of 10 adults, 33-71 years old, who self-identified as victims of a parent-made illness. Subjects answered a 33-item questionnaire including demographic and open ended questions as
well as a list of PTSD symptoms collected through telephone interviews. Subjects described a wide range of experiences, from poisonings and fractures of induced bones to exaggeration of symptoms. Generally subjects felt unloved and insecure in their
childhood; Some were directly aware of the disappointments of their parents. They made limited attempts to alert other people, with few successes. Subjects reported serious emotional and physical problems in their childhood, and serious emotional and
physical problems in their childhood, and problems in their adulthood including insecurity, aspects of contact with reality, evasion of medical treatment and symptoms of post-traumatic stress. Most of their children were also physically and medically
abused. Some subjects expressed considerable residual bitterness toward abusive mothers, but a surprising degree of compassion towards parents who passively accepted or failed to protect them.

Keywords
Munchausen Syndrome by ProxyChild abuseFactitious illnessAbuse outcome

Copyright © 1995 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/014521349500073H

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