Hostname: page-component-7bb8b95d7b-wpx69 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-09-17T18:50:47.348Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Validation Study of Human Figure Drawing Test in a Colombian School Children Population

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 January 2013

Alberto Vélez van Meerbeke ,
Carolina Sandoval-Garcia ,
Milciades Ibáñez ,
Claudia Talero-Gutiérrez ,
Dolly Fiallo  and
Karen Halliday
Alberto Vélez van Meerbeke*
Affiliation:
Universidad del Rosario (Colombia)
Carolina Sandoval-Garcia
Affiliation:
Universidad del Rosario (Colombia)
Milciades Ibáñez
Affiliation:
Universidad del Rosario (Colombia)
Claudia Talero-Gutiérrez
Affiliation:
Universidad del Rosario (Colombia)
Dolly Fiallo
Affiliation:
Universidad del Rosario (Colombia)
Karen Halliday
Affiliation:
Universidad del Rosario (Colombia)
*
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Alberto Velez Van Meerbeke. Escuela de Medicina y Ciencias de la Salud. Universidad del Rosario. Carrera 24 N° 63C-69. Bogotá. (Colombia). Phone: +57-1-3474560/70 ext. 380. Fax: +57-1-3499410. E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The aim of this article was to assess the validity of the emotional and developmental components of the Koppitz human figure drawing test. 2420 children's drawings available in a database resulting from a previous cross sectional study designed to determine the prevalence of neurological diseases in children between 0 and 12 years old in Bogota schools were evaluated. They were scored using the criteria proposed by Koppitz, and classified into 16 groups according to age, gender, and presence/absence of learning or attention problems. The overall results were then compared with the normative study to assess whether descriptive parameters of the two populations were significantly different. There were no significant differences associated with presence/absence of learning and attention disorders or school attended within the overall sample. An Interrater reliability test has been made to assure the homogeneity of scoring by the evaluator team. There were significant differences between this population and that of the original study. New scoring tables contextualized for our population based on the frequency of appearance in this sample are presented. We can conclude that various ethnic, social, and cultural factors can influence the way children draw the human figure. It is thus important to establish local reference values to adequately distinguish between normality and abnormality. The new scoring tables proposed here should be followed up with a clinical study to corroborate their validity.

El trabajo tiene como objetivo fue validar los componentes evolutivos y emocionales del test de Koppitz del dibujo de la figura humana. Se revisaron 2420 dibujos de niños de la base de datos de un estudio de corte transversal realizado previamente para evaluar la prevalencia de enfermedades neuropediátricas en niños de 0 a 12 años de colegios de Bogotá y fueron divididos en 16 grupos organizados de acuerdo a edad, género y de presentación o no de problemas del aprendizaje o de la atención y evaluados bajo los parámetros propuestos por Koppitz. No se encontraron diferencias entre los grupos por la presencia o no de trastornos, ni entre el tipo de establecimiento educativo. Se realizó una prueba de concordancia interevaluador para homogenizar la calificación. Se encontraron diferencias con la clasificación propuesta por Koppitz por lo que se construyeron nuevas tablas de calificación, teniendo en cuenta los porcentajes de presentación en el presente estudio. A manera de conclusiones se puede decir que diferentes factores socioculturales y étnicos influyen en ítems específicos del dibujo de la figura humana en el niño. Es de gran importancia tener valores referenciales locales para poder establecer diferencias reales entre lo normal y lo anormal. Se debe realizar un estudio para validar clínicamente las tablas propuestas.

Keywords

childrenvalidationconcordancehuman figure drawing testniñosvalidaciónconcordanciatest del dibujo de la figura humana
Type
Research Article
Information
The Spanish Journal of Psychology , Volume 14 , Issue 1 , May 2011 , pp. 464 - 477
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2011

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Abell, S. C., Von Briesen, P. D., & Watz, L. S. (1996). Intellectual evaluations of children using human figure drawings: an empirical investigation of two methods. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 52, 67–74. doi:10.1002/(SICI)1097-4679(199601)52:1<67::AID-JCLP9>3.0.CO;2-T3.0.CO;2-T>CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Aptekar, L. (1989). Characteristics of the street children of Colombia. Child Abuse and Neglect, 13, 427–437. doi:10.1016/0145-2134(89)90083-5CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Beery, K. E., Buktenica, N. A., & Beery, N. A. (2004). Beery VMI: The Beery-Buktenica Developmental Test of Visual Motor Integration, (5th ed.). Parsippany, NJ: Modern Curriculum Press.Google Scholar
Brito, G., Alfradique, G., Pereira, C., Porto, C., & Santos, T. (1998). Developmental norms for eight instruments used in the neuropsychological assessment of children: studies in Brazil. Brazilian Journal of Medical and Biological Research, 31, 399–412. doi:10.1590/S0100-879X1998000300012CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Catte, M., & Cox, M. (1999). Emotional indicators in children's human figure drawings. European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 8, 86–91. doi:10.1007/s007870050089CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Colom, R., Flores-Mendoza, C. E., & Abad, F. J. (2007). Generational changes on the draw-a-man test: a comparison of Brazilian urban and rural children tested in 1930, 2002 and 2004. Journal of Biosocial Science, 39, 79–89. doi:10.1017/S0021932005001173CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cox, M. V. (Ed.). (1993). Children's drawings of the human figure. Hove, UK: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Ltd.Google Scholar
Flores-Mendoza, C., Abad, F., & Lele, A. (2005). Análise de itens do desenho da figura humana: aplicação de TRI. [Item analysis of human figure drawings test: aplication of IRT]. Psicologia. Teoria e Pesquisa (Online), 21, 243–254. doi:10.1590/S0102-37722005000200015CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Flynn, J. R. (2007) Beyond the Flynn Effect. In Flynn, J. R, What is Intelligence?: Beyond the Flynn Effect (pp 4–47). Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gonzalez, E. (1982). A cross-cultural comparison of the developmental items of five ethnic groups in the southwest. Journal of Personality Assessment, 46, 26–31. doi:10.1207/s15327752jpa4601_6CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Goodenough, F. (1964). Test de Inteligencia Infantil por medio del dibujo de la figura humana. [Measurement of intelligence by drawings] Buenos Aires: Paidos.Google Scholar
Groves, J. R., & Fried, P. A. (1991). Developmental items on children's human figure drawings: a replication and extension of Koppitz to younger children. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 47, 140–148. doi:10.1002/1097-4679(199101)47:1<140::AID-JCLP2270470123>3.0.CO;2-L3.0.CO;2-L>CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hyland, P., & Rae, G. (2001). Generalisability and classical test theory analyses of Koppitz's Scoring System for Human Figure Drawings. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 71, 369–382. doi:10.1348/000709901158569Google Scholar
Koppitz, E. (2004). El dibujo de la figura humana. [Human figure drawing test]. Buenos Aires: Editorial GuadalupeGoogle Scholar
Merino Soto, C., Honores Mendoza, L., García Ramirez, W., & Salazar Alvarez, G. (2007). Una evaluación normativa de los ítems evolutivos en el dibujo de la figura humana de Koppitz. [Normative evaluation of Koppitz's Human Figure Drawing test developmental items scoring]. Nuevos Paradigmas, 1, 77–95.Google Scholar
Pérez-Olmos, I., Pinzón, A. M., Gonzalez-Reyes, R., & Sánchez-Molano, J. (2005). Influencia de la televisión violenta en niños de una escuela pública de Bogotá, Colombia. [Influence of violent TV upon children of a public school in Bogotá, Colombia]. Revista de Salud pública, 7, 70–88. doi:10.1590/S0124-00642005000100006CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pineda, D., Henao, G., Puerta, I., Mejía, S., Gómez, L., Miranda, L. et al. , (1999). Uso de un cuestionario breve para el diagnóstico de deficiencia atencional. [The usefulness of a short questionnaire for the diagnosis of attention deficiency]. Revista de Neurología, 28, 365–372.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pineda, D. A., Lopera, F., Henao, G. C., Palacio, J. D., Castellanos, F. X., & Grupo de Investigación Fundema. (2001). Confirmación de la alta prevalencia del trastorno por déficit de atención en una comunidad colombiana. [Confirmation of the high prevalence of attention deficit disorder in a colombian community]. Revista de Neurología, 32, 217–222.Google Scholar
Rae, G., & Hyland, P. (2001). Generalisability and classical test theory analyses of Koppitz's scoring system for human figure drawings. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 71, 369–382. doi:10.1348/000709901158569CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Skybo, T., Ryan-Wenger, N., & Su, Y. H. (2007). Human figure drawings as a measure of children's emotional status: critical review for practice. Journal of Pediatric Nursing, 22, 15–28. doi:10.1016/j.pedn.2006.05.006CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sturner, R., Rothbaum, F., Visintainer, M., & Wolfer, J. (1980). The Effects of Stress on Children's Human Figure Drawings. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 36, 324–331. doi:10.1002/1097-4679(198001)36:1<324::AID-JCLP2270360146>3.0.CO;2-63.0.CO;2-6>CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tanaka, C., & Sakuma, H. (2004). Human figure drawing size and body image in preschool children from a self-physique perspective. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 99, 691–700. doi:10.2466/PMS.99.5.691-700CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tielsch, A. H., & Allen, P. J. (2005). Listen to them draw: screening children in primary care through the use of human figure drawings. Pediatric Nursing, 31, 320–327.Google ScholarPubMed
Williams, T. O., Fall, A. M., Eaves, R. C., & Woods-Groves, S. (2006). The reliability of scores for the Human figure drawing intellectual ability test for children, adolescents, and adults. Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, 24, 137–144. doi:10.1177/0734282905285249CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yuste Herranz, C. (1998). Batería de aptitudes diferenciales y generales BADYG E1. [BADYG E1 differential and general aptitude test] Madrid: CEPE SL.Google Scholar