Family drawing for assessing attachment in children: Weaknesses and strengths

Pace, Cecilia Serena; Muzi, Stefania; Vizzino, Francesca

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2022.980129

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 30 publications

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“…The test is both quantitative and qualitative, enables the emotional indicators to be coded and makes it possible to determine whether or not emotional problems are present according to the percentile obtained, while it also offers a more qualitative analysis of the meaning of the emotional indicators found. Moreover, in the research on drawings often is questioned the discriminant validity with the results obtained (in this case with the T2F) and the drawing ability of the child (Clarke et al, 2002;Pace et al, 2022c). Regarding the Two Human Figures test (T2F), the items of Developmental Indicators scale (52 items) was developmental (Maganto and Garaigordobil, 2009b).…”

Section: Drawings and Projective Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Children’s drawings as a projective tool to explore and prevent experiences of mistreatment and/or sexual abuse

Ballús

Comelles²,

Pasto³

et al. 2023

Front. Psychol.

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Reality shows us that situations of mistreatment and sexual abuse in childhood are still seldom visible, despite their high prevalence around the world. It is essential to detect and address them, especially among children in situations of dire risk or neglect. The purpose of this study is to determine if graphic emotional indicators are expressed in the drawings of the projective Draw-a-Person (D.A.P) test, made by children in situations of dire risk or neglect. The sample is made up of 34 children, between the ages of 5 and 11 (17 girls and 17 boys), attended by Specialised Child and Adolescent Care Services of the Barcelona Town Hall (Spain). The drawings were coded quantitatively. The results indicated that most of the drawings show a frequency of graphic emotional indicators, as well as graphic indicators common to experiences of mistreatment and/or abuse, which confirm the existence of emotional problems. However, no significant differences based on gender and age were found, except for one indicator of sexual abuse (body omitted/distorted), which is significantly more common in the boys. Results also revealed that the drawings of human figure enable the children to express their experiences of traumatic situations which are difficult to verbalize. These findings have important implications for professionals, as the use of this projective technique can help to early identification and design treatment strategies in situations of mistreatment and/or abuse in children and their families.

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Section: Drawings and Projective Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Children’s drawings as a projective tool to explore and prevent experiences of mistreatment and/or sexual abuse

Ballús

Comelles²,

Pasto³

et al. 2023

Front. Psychol.

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Quantifying developmental and individual differences in spontaneous drawing completion among children

2022

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This study investigated how children's drawings can provide insights into their cognitive development. It can be challenging to quantify the diversity of children's drawings across their developmental stages as well as between individuals. This study observed children's representational drawing ability by conducting a completion task where children could freely draw on partially drawn objects, and quantitatively analyzed differences in children's drawing tendencies across age and between individuals. First, we conducted preregistered analyses, based on crowd-sourced adult ratings, to investigate the differences of drawing style with the age and autistic traits of the children, where the latter was inspired by reports of atypical drawing among children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Additionally, the drawings were quantified using feature representations extracted with a deep convolutional neural network (CNN), which allowed an analysis of the drawings at different perceptual levels (i.e., local or global). Findings revealed a decrease in scribbling and an increase in completion behavior with increasing age. However, no correlation between drawing behavior and autistic traits was found. The network analysis demonstrated that older children adapted to the presented stimuli in a more adult-like manner than younger children. Furthermore, ways to quantify individual differences in how children adapt to the presented stimuli are explored. Based on the predictive coding theory as a unified theory of how perception and behavior might emerge from integrating sensations and predictions, we suggest that our analyses may open up new possibilities for investigating children's cognitive development.

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Family drawing for assessing attachment in children: Weaknesses and strengths

Cited by 2 publications

References 30 publications

Children’s drawings as a projective tool to explore and prevent experiences of mistreatment and/or sexual abuse

Children’s drawings as a projective tool to explore and prevent experiences of mistreatment and/or sexual abuse

Quantifying developmental and individual differences in spontaneous drawing completion among children

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