A new look at human figure drawings : results of a meta-analysis and drawing scale development

Abstract

Three studies were carried out to examine the empirical validity of individual features of human figure drawings as measures of specific forms of psychopathology.The first study reviewed 40 years of empirical research on these features.This study, unlike several comprehensive and influential past reviews, grouped study hdings by construct and employed meta-analytic techniques to determine effect sizes and test their significance.The results suggest that the validity of such features may be greater than had been previously thought.The second study used the results of the previous meta-analysis to develop drawing scales for four specltic constructs of psychopathology: anger~hostdity, anxiety, social maladjustment, and thought disorder.Total scores Erom these scales were correlated with independent measures from the MMPI, the Jesness Inventory, and the WAIS-R or the WISC-R in a sample of young offenders.The drawing scales demonstrated valid patterns of convergent and d i t validity.Observed correlations, however, were small to moderate in size.The third study was a fill replication of the second using a new sample of young offenders.Only one of the scales continued to demonstrate the expected pattern of convergence.Results suggest some potential for aggregates of individual drawing features to provide valid measures of specific forms of psychopathology.New Look Acknowledgments Foremost among those whose contribution toward this dissertation I would like to acknowledge is Dr. Marlene Moretti, my senior supervisor.Marlene has played many roles for me during my time as a doctoral candidate.She has supervised my research and clinical work, she has taught me both the knowledge of psychology and the knowledge of how to be a good psychologist, and she has provided guidance and support as I developed to be a psychologist.

Cite this work

No public copy is stored for this record, so only the metadata is cited.

Stored only when both papers are in the corpus — 2 citations exist upstream.

Papers that cite the same references — the relational fallback while embeddings are still backfilling.