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Childhood fantasy play and creation of imaginary companions are thought to confer socio‐emotional benefits in children, but little is known about how they relate to socio‐emotional competence in adulthood. A total of 341 adults (81 males) aged 18 and above (M = 31.47, SD = 12.62) completed an online survey examining their fantasy play as a child, their childhood imaginary companion status, and their adult socio‐emotional competence. Adults who reported higher levels of childhood fantasy play were found to be significantly more prosocial, empathetic, and emotionally intelligent than their counterparts after controlling for demographic factors. Recall of a childhood imaginary companion, however, was significantly related only to higher scores for perspective‐taking and did not explain unique variance in any adult competence measure. Findings suggest that engagement in fantasy play during childhood may be a precursor to later socio‐emotional competence, while benefits previously associated with imaginary companions specifically may not extend into adulthood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spontaneous imaginary companion (SIC) creation in childhood is a typical imaginative play behaviour associated with advanced sociocognitive skills; however, the direction of causality has not been established. To investigate this experimentally, researchers must determine whether children can create, on request, qualitatively equivalent imaginary companions (ICs) to those created spontaneously. We examined whether children could create ICs, and how these compared to SICs. Nine elementary school children were encouraged to create ICs in a 3‐month intervention. Accounts of elicited ICs were compared with an age‐matched sample of interviewees with SICs. Seven children maintained ICs for 6 months post intervention. Template analysis of IC interviews found four themes: Realistic Play, Multifaceted IC Mind, Utility of the IC, and Elicited IC Across Time. Analysis suggests elicited and SICs were similar in nature and utility, although intervention ICs tended to have animal rather than human appearances. Findings support the argument that children can be encouraged to create ICs similar to SICs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Past research shows that autistic children can and do create imaginary companions (ICs), and that these ICs resemble those that neurotypical children create. Neurotypical children creating ICs have been found to have significantly more developed theory of mind (ToM) and social understanding among other enhanced social cognitive skills. The study set out to determine if this finding applies to autistic children. Parents of 124 (38 female) autistic children, ages from 5 to –12 years old, completed questionnaires evaluating communication, social understanding, and social skills. Children with ICs had significantly higher ToM and social skills scores regardless of their communication abilities. Findings suggest that there is a variability in ToM and social skills in autistic children in reference to an IC play profile. Results are discussed in terms of direction of causality and lab-based investigations. Research on neurotypical children with imaginary friends has found that those with imaginary friends have better social skills and are more able to think about how other people's minds work compared to children without imaginary friends. Research shows that some autistic children also create imaginary friends. This article is the first to look at whether or not autistic children with imaginary friends have stronger social skills and an improved ability to think about others' minds than those without imaginary friends. We asked parents to report about their children aged 5 to 12. Finding almost half reported their child had an imaginary friend, a much larger number than previous research with younger children. Our findings also suggested that autistic children with imaginary friends were better able to understand others' minds and had stronger social skills than their peers without imaginary friends. The children's language ability did not influence this. The findings of this study add to the evidence that with respect to the creation imaginary friends and their potential benefits, the play profiles of autistic children are similar to the general population. It also provides more evidence that the understanding of others' minds is not all or nothing in autism and gives reason for researchers to investigate whether the causes of these differences are the same or different for autistic children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • Childhood imaginary friend report predicted adult prodromal hallucination symptoms. • Childhood imaginary friend report did not predict other adult prodromal symptoms. • Childhood adversity report predicted all types of adult prodromal symptoms. • Childhood adversity mediated imaginary friend prodromal hallucination symptoms. Abstract Hallucination and dissociation have been found to be associated with imaginary friend play in childhood (CIC). Past studies have not investigated how this play relates to adult prodromal symptoms or how childhood adversity mediates the relationship. CIC play was examined in 278 participants, 18–24 years. CIC status predicted prodromal symptoms of hallucination only, whereas childhood adversity predicted all other symptoms. Mediation analysis found CIC's relation to hallucination symptoms was partially mediated by childhood adversity. Findings fit with views that CIC are a positive childhood experience which may convert to a negative developmental trajectory through the impact of childhood adversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Relations between having an imaginary companion (IC) and (i) descriptions of a real-life friend, (ii) theory of mind performance, and (iii) reported prosocial behaviour and behavioural difficulties were investigated in a sample of 5-year-olds ( N = 159). Children who had an IC were more likely than their peers without an IC to describe their best friends with reference to their mental characteristics, but IC status was unrelated to children's theory of mind performance and reported prosocial behaviour and behavioural difficulties. These findings are discussed in the context of the proposal that there is a competence-performance gap in children's mentalizing abilities. © 2014 The Authors. Infant and Child Development published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] We investigated relations between private speech and imaginary companion (IC) status. [•] Having an IC related to more internalized private speech during free play. [•] Imaginary companion status was not obviously related to private speech content. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]