The use of drawing as an emotion regulation technique with children.

Abstract

The present study was designed to assess the effectiveness of drawing as an emotion regulation technique with children aged 7 (N ϭ 66) and 10 (N ϭ 72) and to compare 3 drawing conditions, a vent condition and 2 distract conditions (free and happy drawing), as a function of age and emotional comprehension. We also examined whether the effectiveness of drawing could be influenced by other individual factors (drawing appreciation, perceived competence, graphic skills, drawing duration). First, children's mood was measured before the mood induction. Participants were then induced in a negative mood and their mood was measured a second time. Then, they were asked to draw and their mood was measured a third time. Then, they were asked to assess their appreciation of drawing, their perceived competence; they also made two additional drawings and completed the Test of Emotion Comprehension. The results indicate that drawing can be used as a reliable emotion regulation technique with children. We found a larger mood improvement in the distraction conditions compared to the venting one, especially for children with a medium emotional comprehension (mental stage). Finally, the effectiveness of drawing was only influenced by children's perceived competence. These results are discussed in terms of their implications in clinical and educational settings.

How Drawing to Distract Improves Mood in Children

“…It seems likely that children would use drawing to distract from negative feelings since distraction is one of the most common emotion regulation strategies used by children ( Skinner and Zimmer-Gembeck, 2007 ). One study with a slightly different age group than the current study (7 and 10 year olds versus 6–8 and 10–12 year olds) found that the majority (89%) of children did use drawing as a form of distraction in a free draw condition ( Brechet et al, 2020 ). This study also analyzed the themes of children’s drawings and found that the content of children’s drawings differed by age: 7 year olds tended to draw familiar environments or people while 10 year olds tended to draw celebrations or leisure activities.…”

“…Higher perceived competence reported by younger children is not exclusive to drawing. In a similar study, Brechet et al (2020) found that after a drawing task, younger children rated their overall perceived competence as higher than older children. Study 1 examined potential developmental differences in the role of absorption, enjoyment, and perceived competence when drawing to distract.…”

“…Does the valence of children’s drawings when used to distract affect mood improvement? One study compared the benefits of drawing to express versus two different drawing to distract conditions – drawing something positive and a free draw condition in 7 and 10 year olds ( Brechet et al, 2020 ). Those in all three drawing conditions improved in mood, but mood improvement was greatest for the draw something positive and free draw conditions.…”

“…First, drawing to distract is more effective in improving mood in children than drawing to express, but only when children generate the image on their own rather than copy one ( Drake and Winner, 2013 ). Second, no difference in mood improvement is shown when children are prompted to draw a specific scene versus draw whatever they want ( Brechet et al, 2020 ). Third, children report feeling calmer after drawing a remembered event than after simply remembering an event without drawing.…”

“…This study also analyzed the themes of children’s drawings and found that the content of children’s drawings differed by age: 7 year olds tended to draw familiar environments or people while 10 year olds tended to draw celebrations or leisure activities. Study 3 sought to expand on the work by Brechet et al (2020) to examine whether children spontaneously use drawing to distract rather than express as well as the reason why children choose to draw a particular theme. Do they choose to draw what they are already good at drawing?…”