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Young Adolescents' Human Figure Drawings as Indicators of Psychopathology

Glenna Darnell-Goetschel

Wright State University

The purpose of this study was to assess the extent to which aspects of 44 young adolescents' (mean age = 13.9 years) human figure drawings were related to self-reported symptomatology as assessed by the Symptom Checklist-90-R (SCL-90-R). Drawings were spontaneously and serendipitously generated in a low reactivity nonclinic setting. As claimed by proponents of the clinical utility of human figure drawings, subjects who shaded their figures or omitted the eyes from their figures had high SCL-90-R anxiety scores. However, claims that aspects of human figure drawings indicate social anxiety and hostility were not supported. It is concluded that adolescents' human figure drawings can provide reliable information about anxiety, but that such data need to be used in conjunction with other test data.

Journal of Adolescent Research, Vol. 2, No. 1, 69-74 (1987)
DOI: 10.1177/074355488721006


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