["Dear Kitty, you asked me...": imaginary companions and real friends in adolescence]

Based on semistructured interviews and the analyses of diary entries, frequency and function of imaginary companions, compared to real friendships, were investigated in an adolescent sample. Results suggest that while imaginary companions fulfill a number of different functions for the identity development, which supplement experiences with close friends, they do not compensate for the lack of close friendships. Real and fantasized comparisons with a highly similar significant other are most important. Interestingly, as an adult, writers hardly remember these positive functions for their own developmental progression.