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Approximately 1800 children between the ages of 5 and 12 years were randomly selected and asked whether they had present or past experiences of imaginary companions. It was found that 829 (46.2%) children reported experiences of imaginary companions. These findings were unexpected as previous studies had suggested that imaginary companions are generally experienced by fewer, much younger children. There were no significant differences in creativity scores between children who reported imaginary companions compared with those who did not. Imaginary companions were reported by more girls than boys, and were not restricted to very young children.

This study examined the unique and combined associations of homelessness and school mobility with educational well-being indicators, as well as the mediating effect of absenteeism, for an entire cohort of third-grade students in Philadelphia. Using integrated archival administrative data from the public school district and the municipal Office of Supportive Housing, multilevel linear models were estimated to test these associations while adjusting for nesting of students within schools. Findings demonstrated that homelessness had a unique association with problems in classroom engagement, school mobility was uniquely related to both academic achievement and problems in classroom engagement, and experiencing both homelessness and school mobility was the most detrimental for both forms of educational well-being. Absenteeism was found to partially mediate the relations between homelessness, school mobility, and problems in task engagement. Results provide support for the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act and the need for educational policies for mobile children.

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David Ludwig and colleagues examine the within-family relationship between pregnancy weight gain and the offspring's childhood weight gain, thereby reducing the influence of genes and environment. Please see later in the article for the Editors' Summary