Girls drew themselves more expressively than boys. The children were invited to draw three pictures of themselves – one as a baseline, one happy and one sad. The results of the study show that children’s drawings of themselves are more expressive if the audience for those drawings is familiar to the child. These groups represented professionals (policeman, teacher) and men with whom the children were familiar, and those with whom they were not. The children were arranged in seven groups – one where no audience was specified and six audience groups varying by audience type. The research team worked with 175 children aged eight and nine, 85 boys and 90 girls.

Drawings are often used in clinical, forensic, educational and therapeutic situations to garner information about how a child feels and to supplement verbal communication. The results of the study are significant because it is important to understand children’s drawings for different audiences.

The study is published in the British Journal of Developmental Psychology. Yet how do children represent themselves in their drawings, and does this representation alter according to who will look at the picture?Ī research team led by academics from the University of Chichester has examined this issue and found that children’s expressive drawings of themselves vary according to the authority of and familiarity with the adult who will view the picture. IT IS the archetypal child’s drawing – family, pet, maybe a house and garden, and the child themselves. The findings will help practitioners to better interpret children’s drawings of themselves.The study’s findings show that children vary how they draw themselves depending on the profession of the audience, and whether or not they are familiar to the child.They help a range of professionals to understand how a child is feeling.Children’s drawings are used as a communication tool in a number of professional/therapeutic settings.

Child drawing of house