Abstract
We apply the Colour Family Drawing Test, as a development of the traditional black and white test, for cross-cultural comparison. The participants, aged 7 - 10 years, both genders, were examined individually. Each subject sat at a single table with a white rectangular card of standard size, 24 well-sharpened colour pencils, a black pencil, an eraser and other appropriate tools. S/he received this verbal instruction: “Draw your family”. The procedure was firstly applied to 120 participants attending primary schools of Rome (Biasi, Bonaiuto and Levin, 2014). The families were evaluated through a semi-structural interview conducted with the children’s teachers and divided into: Harmonious versus Very Conflictual Families. The drawings made by children of Harmonious Families consistently used “Reassuring and Playful Colours” (Pink, Orange, Sky Blue, Light Green, Light Yellow, other pastel colours); and were larger, tidier and more proportioned to respect the opposite group. Children belonging to Conflictual Families used mostly “Alarming and Serious Colours” (Grey, Black, Dark Bleu, Violet, Olive Green) and their drawings were less extended, more often disordered and had typical deformations such as figures too thin. A second investigation examined 120 participants belonging to Asian immigrant families residing in Italy. A third investigation examined 120 participants belonging to Russian families of Moscow. Both last two investigations obtained very similar results on the use of colours, and gave a confirmation of the relevance of the Colour Family Drawing Test.
Highlights
The Family Drawing Test was generally performed with children for the assessment of cognitive and emotional development, as indicators of mental health, and for the evaluation of children’s perceptions of family relationships
Children of depressed mothers, were more likely to draw themselves as less prominent than other family members and to represent a dysfunctional family, less likely to represent themselves with a happy face and showed a greater tendency of drawing bizarre pictures
Results of this study provide support for the use of Family Drawings as a valid measurement of attachment in middle childhood, in high-risk and ethnically diverse samples
Summary
The Family Drawing Test was generally performed with children for the assessment of cognitive and emotional development, as indicators of mental health, and for the evaluation of children’s perceptions of family relationships. Goldner and Scharf [2] examined the relationship between children’s attachment security, as manifested in their family drawings, and their personality and adjustment. Results of this study provide support for the use of Family Drawings as a valid measurement of attachment in middle childhood, in high-risk and ethnically diverse samples. In any case, when occasionally authors included the use of colours, they didn’t utilize specific indicators for colour evaluation: such as the emotional quality of the colour and the colour meaning For this reason our research group introduced some years ago, a classification of indicators of graphic pictorial language linked to conflictual meanings—or harmonious ones—derived from research study on psychology of expressiveness, as we will explain below
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