Refugee Minors’ Perspectives Explored with the Bridge Drawing and Children’s Hope Scale

Abstract

Moving from one’s home country to a foreign country due to unforeseen circumstances such as war and unrest is a distressing life event. For minors, such an experience can impact their perception of the past and present alongside future goals and desires. With this background, a pilot study was done to assess the life transition reflected in the Bridge Drawing Test (BDT) of refugee minors who have moved from either Ukraine or Eritrea and are currently living in Israel, with a control group. A mixed-methods design involving BDT and the Children’s Hope Scale (CHS) was administered to a sample (N = 35, 20 girls and 15 boys) consisting of 16 refugee minors and 19 controls aged 4 to 14 years (M = 8.3 years, SD = 2.8). The BDT was assessed using indicators from the original bridge drawing directive and the Formal Elements Art Therapy Scale (FEATS) by two Art Therapists (Cohen’s Kappa ranged from 0.6 to 1). Results showed significant group differences in indicators: Prominence of colour, details of objects and environment, obviousness of Solidarity of bridge attachments and high versus low hope from the BDT (Medium effect size & p < .05). Associations between Pathway and Agency with BDT indicator and FEATS were seen. Refugee status also moderated the relationship between the CHS Total score and the subscale of Pathway and BDT indicator, namely Directionality (p = .01 & p = .02). Bridge drawings of refugee minors have differences that can aid in understanding their hope and goals, offering benefits as a diagnostic and therapeutic intervention tool. Future studies with larger samples, and diverse cultural groups are warranted to explore the same.