Yes, having an imaginary friend is completely normal. Nearly half of all children create one at some point, and the habit is linked to stronger social skills, better reasoning, and higher creativity. Far from being a warning sign, imaginary companions are one of the most common and well-studied features of childhood development.
How Common Imaginary Friends Really Are
A large study of roughly 1,800 children between ages 5 and 12 found that 46.2% reported having an imaginary companion, either currently or in the past. That number surprised researchers, because earlier estimates had put it much lower and assumed imaginary friends were mostly a preschool phenomenon. In reality, they persist well beyond the toddler years.
The peak period is preschool through early elementary school. About 39% of children ages 5 to 7 report having an invisible imaginary companion, and when you include stuffed animals or toys that a child has given a distinct personality, the numbers climb to between 46% and 65% of young children. Even among kids ages 8 to 12, roughly 22% still report having one. Girls create imaginary companions somewhat more often than boys, though the reasons for this gap aren’t fully clear.
Imaginary friends also aren’t limited to a single form. Some are entirely invisible characters with names, backstories, and opinions. Others are dolls or stuffed animals that a child treats as a thinking, feeling being for months or years. Both count, and both appear in the research with similar developmental benefits.
Why Kids Create Them
Children with imaginary friends tend to score higher on measures of creativity, divergent thinking, and reasoning. They show a better understanding of social roles, stronger inference skills, and more frequent use of private speech, the kind of self-directed talking that helps kids work through problems. These aren’t children retreating from the world. Research consistently finds that kids who create imaginary companions are often more socially confident and more interested in building real friendships, not less.
One theory is that inventing another mind gives a child a low-stakes place to practice understanding how other people think and feel. This ability, sometimes called theory of mind, is a cornerstone of empathy and social interaction. The child gets to rehearse conversations, navigate conflicts, and experiment with emotions without the unpredictability of a real peer. That practice appears to translate into real-world social advantages.
Children Know the Difference
A common worry is that a child who talks to an invisible friend has lost touch with reality. The research is reassuring here. When researchers interview children about their imaginary companions, the kids clearly distinguish between real and pretend friends. They understand the companion is make-believe. Some children even describe the imaginary friend as a secret known only to them, showing a sophisticated awareness that other people wouldn’t be able to see or interact with the character.
This is fundamentally different from a hallucination, where the person believes the experience is real and has no control over it. A child playing with an imaginary friend is directing the experience and can stop or change it at will.
Imaginary Friends and Neurodivergent Children
Autistic children can and do create imaginary companions, and the benefits look strikingly similar to those seen in neurotypical kids. In one study, autistic children with imaginary companions scored significantly higher on both theory of mind and social skills measures compared to autistic children without them. They were also more interested in making real friends and spending time with peers.
There are some differences in form. Autistic children are more likely to create personified objects (giving a personality to a toy or doll) rather than fully invisible companions. But the social and emotional functions are the same: comfort, companionship, and a space to practice social interaction. For autistic children who may have fewer opportunities to interact with peers, an imaginary friend can serve as a meaningful bridge to social understanding.
When to Pay Closer Attention
In the vast majority of cases, an imaginary friend is a healthy part of development. But there is a narrow set of circumstances worth watching for. Research has found that childhood imaginary companions sit on a broad spectrum of imaginative experience, and in a small number of cases, particularly when combined with significant childhood adversity or trauma, the trait may correlate with later hallucination-like experiences. One study found that adults who reported both a childhood imaginary companion and high levels of childhood adversity reported 94% more early psychosis-related symptoms than those with neither factor.
The important context: this finding came from a non-clinical sample, meaning researchers couldn’t draw conclusions about actual mental illness diagnoses. Having an imaginary friend alone did not predict problems. It was the combination with serious adversity that mattered. For children in stable, supportive environments, an imaginary companion is not a risk factor.
Signs that something beyond normal play might be happening include a child who seems genuinely frightened by the companion, who cannot stop interacting with it even when distressed, who insists the experience is involuntary, or whose imaginary friend consistently involves dark or violent themes that the child can’t move past. These patterns, especially in a child who has experienced trauma or major upheaval, are worth discussing with a pediatrician or child psychologist.
How to Respond as a Parent
Playing along is generally the best approach. When you engage with your child’s imaginary friend, you’re building trust and getting a window into what your child is processing emotionally. Kids often use imaginary companions to work through transitions like starting a new school, adjusting to a new sibling, or dealing with a move. Joining the play lets you support that emotional work naturally.
One common scenario: your child blames the imaginary friend for misbehavior. This is normal and doesn’t mean your child is lying or confused. A calm response works best. Something like “Even though your friend might have helped, we still need to clean this up together” respects the imaginative play while reinforcing accountability. You don’t need to debunk the friend or argue about whether it’s real. The child already knows.
There’s no need to push a child to stop playing with an imaginary companion. Most children phase them out naturally as their real social world expands, typically by late elementary school. Some carry them longer, and that’s fine too.
Adults With Imaginary Companions
This isn’t exclusively a childhood phenomenon. Research on university students and general adult populations has found that roughly 10 to 15% of adults currently have an imaginary companion of some kind. An earlier study of highly educated adults put the number around 7.5%. The adults who maintain imaginary companions tend to score higher on anthropomorphic tendencies (the habit of attributing human qualities to non-human things) and report higher levels of perceived stress. Loneliness, interestingly, did not strongly predict whether an adult had an imaginary companion.
For adults, imaginary companions often function as a thinking tool or emotional outlet rather than a playmate. Writers, for instance, frequently describe characters who “take on a life of their own,” which overlaps with how researchers define adult imaginary companions. The trait appears to reflect a particular style of imagination rather than a sign of dysfunction.