Capacities for integration, Oedipal ambivalence, and imaginary companions.

The phenomenon of imaginary companions in early childhood has been approached from the standpoint of capacities for ego integration. A limited review of the literature has been presented, along with a brief discussion of the development of synthetic functions and the growth of an integrated personality structure. The fantasy of an imaginary playmate has been examined as representing latent deficiencies in ego integration that become manifest with the rise of Oedipal conflicts. The case study of Susan was chosen to illustrate this process. The differential course of this stage of development for boys and girls is thought to require differential degrees of synthesis, and is presented as an explanation for the recurrent empirical finding that imaginary companions occur more frequently among female children. The ambivalence created in the child's relationship with the mother has been explored as a critical facet of this process, and the relationship of these early difficulties with integration to later psychopathology has been briefly addressed.