Trait Emotional Intelligence and Draw-A-Person Emotional Indicators: a First Study on 8-Year-Old Italian Children

Abstract

Scholars have shown the link between trait emotional intelligence (EI) and psychological health in adults, as well as in children, together with a strong association of the construct with expression of emotions, which may be well represented by children’s drawings. This work focuses on the effects of trait EI on Koppitz’s emotional indicators in the Draw-a-Person (DAP) test, a projective drawing task that is often used in psychological assessments of children to develop hypotheses about the subject’s cognitive, developmental, and emotional functioning, as well as personality style. Given the link between a child’s graphic activity and the expression of emotions, we assume that trait EI can be a reliable predictor of emotional expression revealed by the DAP test, over and above personality traits. A self-report form to assess trait EI, a personality questionnaire, and the DAP test were administered to a sample of 82 Italian children (51.2% females; Mage = 8.11; SD = 0.35). Data from hierarchical regression analysis suggest a predictive significant effect of trait EI on emotional indicators in children’s drawings (β = .36, p < .05). Future investigations should replicate these results in larger samples and in cross-cultural settings. Notwithstanding these limitations, this work may provide a springboard for developing new lines of research on the influence of trait EI on children’s drawings, considering the internal representation related to emotional expression to be paramount. Moreover, our results may have practical implications, particularly with respect to programs and policies addressing the prevention of emotional distress in children.