ADAPTIVE AND MALADAPTIVE USES OF IMAGINARY COMPANIONS: A DEVELOPMENTAL PERSPECTIVE.
Item
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Title
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ADAPTIVE AND MALADAPTIVE USES OF IMAGINARY COMPANIONS: A DEVELOPMENTAL PERSPECTIVE.
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Identifier
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AAI8601676
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identifier
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8601676
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Creator
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MEYER, JODIE R.
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Contributor
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I. H. Paul
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Date
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1985
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Psychology, Clinical
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Abstract
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This study explores whether a child's having an imaginary companion is an adaptive or maladaptive phenomenon. A pilot study revealed two primary functions that the imaginary companion served: (1) to deal with aggression/superego concerns, and (2) to deal with dependency or autonomy conflicts. Developmental theory posits that dependency issues precede superego concerns. Therefore, this study hypothesized that children aged 4-5 who use their imaginary companions to negotiate superego/aggression issues would fare better on measures of internal and external adaptiveness. The Achenbach and Edelbrock Child Behavior Checklist was used to assess behavioral symptomatology. The Rorschach Test assessed intrapsychic functioning. Parents were given a questionnaire which surveyed the ways their child used their companion. The Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test was employed to insure that intelligence would not confound test results. The sample consisted of 18 children, 12 girls and 6 boys, ranging in age from 3 years 10 months to 5 years 2 months. Various statistical procedures failed to dichotomize the sample into two mutually exclusive, non-overlapping groups based on the primary function of the imaginary companion. Therefore, the major hypotheses of this study could not be tested. Several significant findings were derived however. The children all scored within the normal range using the Child Behavior Checklist sum score. This provides behavioral evidence that in this age child, the existence of an imaginary companion is not pathological. The normative behavior of this sample also permitted comparisons between the normative Rorschach data provided by Ames et al. and the Rorschach performance of this sample. In contrast to normative findings, these children produce a greater number of human, animal, and inanimate movement responses, as well as a larger number of pure color responses. The human and animal movement responses provide an intrapsychic correlate to the imaginativeness necessary to develop an imaginary companion. The inanimate movement and pure color responses depict the high level of anxiety that these children wrestle with, which may be a key etiological agent in the development of imaginary companions.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
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Program
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Psychology
