The Characteristics and Correlates of Fantasy in School-Age Children: Imaginary Companions, Impersonation, and Social Understanding.

Abstract

Past research with 152 preschoolers found that having an imaginary companion or impersonating an imaginary character was positively correlated with theory of mind performance. Three years later, 100 children from this study were retested to assess the developmental course of play with imaginary companions and impersonation of imaginary characters and how these types of role play were related to emotion understanding, self-perception, and personality. The results showed that school-age children interact with imaginary companions and impersonate imaginary characters as much as preschoolers. Overall, 65% of children up to the age of 7 had imaginary companions at some point during their lives. School-age children who did not impersonate scored lower on emotion understanding. Theory of mind at age 4 predicted emotion understanding 3 years later.

Le risque de perdre sa « voix » ou les dangers de la perte de sens en psychiatrie

“…Par exemple, très fréquemment, les jeunes enfants âgés de moins de 12 ans (46,2 % jusqu'à 65 % : Pearson et al, 2001 ;Taylor et al, 2004) interagissent de façon cognitivo-perceptuelle avec leurs compagnons imaginaires au gré de leurs besoins et imaginaire fertile. À 7-8 ans, un échantillon non clinique de Jenner et al (2005) montre une prévalence de 8.7 % au cours de la dernière année d'hallucinations auditives dont le tiers des enfants étaient évalués comme portant une charge psychique sévère par la fréquence (plus d'une fois par jour), l'intensité de celles-ci au plan sonore et l'interférence des hallucinations sur la capacité de penser.…”

Parental Website-Descriptions of Children's Imaginary Companions

“…Perhaps, therefore, parents are more likely to be concerned about imaginary companions in older children. In addition, in the scientific world, it is well-known that many young (preschool)children have imaginary companions (Taylor et al, 2004). Older children, in contrast, tend to less overtly act out their fantasy, which has lead to more unawareness of the prevalence of imaginary companions in middle childhood (Pearson et al, 2001;Taylor et al, 2004).…”

“…Girls' playing behaviour focuses more on relationships than that of boys (e.g., play house), whereas boys' pretend play focuses more on action and fantasy (e.g., beating a monster; Fein, 1981). It is imaginable that parents may feel less concerned when their child's imaginary companion fits this gender-role behaviour (i.e., girls with an imaginary friend, boys with an impersonated object; Taylor et al, 2004) rather than contradicts it.…”

“…In addition, several studies have been carried out investigating differences between children with and without experiences of imaginary companions. None of these studies indicate that imaginary companions are a signal for psychopathology (Gleason, Jarudi, & Cheeks, 2003;Taylor, 1999;Taylor et al, 2004). Yet, scientific knowledge may or may not correspond to the knowledge of parents.…”

“…Having an imaginary or pretend companion, is a common experience for schoolchildren. About 50 to 65% of the children have one or more imaginary companions at a certain point of childhood (Hoff, 2005;Pearson, Rouse, Doswell, Ainsworth, Dawson, Simms et al, 2001;Taylor, Carlson, Maring, Gerow, & Charley, 2004). In addition, several studies have been carried out investigating differences between children with and without experiences of imaginary companions.…”