TABLE 1.
Three levels of attachment-based coding system on Family Drawing.
| 24 Individual markersa (Kaplan and Main, 1986) |
Four classifications (Kaplan and Main, 1986) |
Eight global rating scalesb (Fury, 1996) |
|
Avoidant markers (A) (1) Lack of color (2) Child positioned far apart from mother (3) Omission of mother or child (4) Lack of individuation of family members (5) Arms downward, close to the body (6) Exaggeration of heads (7) Disguised family members |
Secure (B) Drawings show centered, grounded and completed figures with open arms; high family pride/happiness and low global pathology. |
Security (B) scales: (1) Vitality/Creativity: the child’s emotional investment in drawing is reflected in creativity, detail, and embellishment; (2) Family Pride/Happiness: a child’ sense of belonging to the family troupe; |
|
Ambivalent markers (C) (8) Figures separated by barriers (9) Figures crowded or overlapping (10) Unusually small figures (11) Unusually large figures (12) Exaggeration of body part (13) Exaggeration of hands/arms (14) Exaggeration of facial features (15) Figures on the corner of the page |
Insecure-avoidant (A) Drawings are characterized by distance between family members, uncolored or uncompleted figures (e.g., without arms), and an emphasis on invulnerability is expressed by happy face; high emotional distance/isolation and tension/anger. |
Avoidant (A) scales: (3) Emotional Distance/Isolation: a sense of loneliness perceived by the child reflected in masked expressions of anger, neutral or negative affects, distance between mother and child (4) Tension/Anger: figures without color and detail or scribbled or crossed out; |
|
Insecurity markers (A,C) (16) Lack of background detail (17) Figures not grounded (“floating”) (18) Incomplete figures (19) Mother not feminized (20) Males and females undifferentiated by gender (21) Neutral/negative facial affect |
Insecure-ambivalent Drawings show vulnerability in family relations, with crowded or overlapping figures and a large or small figures; high Vulnerability and Role Reversal |
Ambivalent (C) scales: (5) Vulnerability: placement of figures on the page and exaggeration of body parts; (6) Role Reversal: size or roles of drawing figures. |
|
Disorganized markers (D) (22) False starts (23) Scrunched figures (24) Unusual signs, symbols, or scenes |
Disorganized Drawing is characterized by confusing and fluctuating figures with unusual signs and symbols; high bizarreness/dissociation and global pathology |
Disorganized (D) scales: (7) Bizarreness/Dissociation: unusual symbols, signs, and fantasy themes; 8) Global Pathology: which is reflected in the global organization of drawing, including, for example, the completeness of figures, the use of color, presence of details, affect, and background scene. |
aCoded in eight dimensions: the degree of movement present in the figures, the identification of the figures, the completeness of the human forms represented, the quality of the smile, the size of the figures, the centrality of the figures in the sheet, and the global impression of vulnerability/invulnerability.
bMain categories are assigned based on high scores in pattern scales and global impressions of balance and enhancement of affective ties (Secure); emotional indifference and coldness (Avoidant), isolation from the family group or fear and worry (Ambivalent), chaos, confusion, and anxiety (Disorganized).