Children's Family Drawings: A Study of Attachment, Personality, and Adjustment

Abstract

This study examined the relationship between children's attachment security, as manifested in their family drawings, and their personality and adjustment. Family drawings were collected from 222 Israeli children, as well as data regarding their personality and adjustment. Each drawing was coded and classified into 1 of 4 attachment categories based on global and individual characteristics such as completeness of figures, facial expression, size, and degree of movement. Results showed that drawings from securely attached children included more positive markers of personality and reflected their superior psychosocial functioning. Drawings from children in the ambivalent and disorganized attachment categories reflected the children's adjustment difficulties; children whose drawings were classified as representing avoidant attachment were found to function relatively well. The study demonstrated the effectiveness of using family drawings to assess children's attachment representations and to identify children at risk for adjustment problems in the school setting.