Children's family drawings, body perceptions, and eating attitudes: The moderating role of gender

Abstract

The aim of this study was to examine the associations between specific indicators in children's family drawings, their body perceptions, and eating attitudes among 192 Israeli children (M=9.14). Among girls, the presence of tiny figures and a general negative impression of the drawings were evident in detecting problematic eating attitudes and body perceptions; the presence of tiny figures was negatively associated with the perception of current self-figure weight, the peer ideal-weight body figure, and the teacher's perception of the child's weight. Vitality, pride (negative), and isolation (positive) in drawings were associated with maladaptive eating attitudes. Vitality (negative) and pathology (negative) in the drawings were associated with teachers’ perception of the child's weight. Among boys, the presence of feminine indicators and gender differences in the drawings was a central indicator in identifying maladaptive body perceptions. Gender differences in the drawings were negatively associated with boys’ perceptions of their current weight, the peer-ideal weight and the teacher's perception of their weight. Drawing feminine indicators was positively associated with maladaptive eating attitudes, and negatively associated with the current weight of the self-figure and peer ideal weight body-figure. Moreover, children's gender moderated the associations between specific indicators and eating behavior and body perceptions. The societal and clinical implications are discussed in light of these findings.