Editorial Perspective: A call for action on imposter participants in child and adolescent mental health research.

Imposter participants are dishonest participants who fake their identities or exaggerate their experiences to participate in research. This appears to be a rising problem in quantitative and qualitative research as well as lived experience groups for child and adolescent mental health research. Impo...

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Publicado en:Child & Adolescent Mental Health Vol. 31; no. 2; pp. 149 - 153
Autores principales: Ching, Brian C.F., Ani, Cornelius, Pitt, Angie, Eager, Sharon, Simonoff, Emily, Downs, Johnny
Formato: editorial questions and answers Journal Article
Publicado: Wiley-Blackwell May2026
Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
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      dt: May2026
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      place: Malden, Massachusetts
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        atl: Editorial Perspective: A call for action on imposter participants in child and adolescent mental health research.
      aug:
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          Ching, Brian C.F.
          Ani, Cornelius
          Pitt, Angie
          Eager, Sharon
          Simonoff, Emily
          Downs, Johnny
        affil: CAMHS Digital Lab, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK
      sug:
        subj:
          Research, Mental Health
          Fraud Prevention and Control
          Research Subjects
          Credibility (Research)
          Deception
          Mental Health In Infancy and Childhood
          Mental Health In Adolescence
          Child
          Adolescence
          Data Quality
          Child: 6-12 years
          Adolescent: 13-18 years
      ab: Imposter participants are dishonest participants who fake their identities or exaggerate their experiences to participate in research. This appears to be a rising problem in quantitative and qualitative research as well as lived experience groups for child and adolescent mental health research. Imposters in research present great challenges for young people's safety, privacy, and well‐being, and the data integrity of affected research studies. Although strategies have been suggested to identify and address this challenge, they come with limitations. Also, there are no evidence‐based guidelines or frameworks about imposter data. We discuss key issues and considerations and propose actionable steps for researchers and practitioners working with young people. We also make a call for action for robust research to improve how we prevent, identify, and address imposters in child and adolescent mental health research.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype:
        editorial
        questions and answers
        Journal Article
      ougenre: Article
    language: English
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