Identification of Individuals with Serious Emotional Disturbance Using the Draw A Person: Screening Procedure for Emotional Disturbance

Abstract

Group differences were analyzed for 81 regular education students and a matched sample of 81 students in special educational placements for students with serious emotional disturbance. The samples were matched on age (mean age in years for each group was 10.6), gender, race, and intelligence. All subjects completed drawings of a man, a woman, and self, which were scored using the Draw A Person: Screening Procedure for Emotional Disturbance. The mean T score earned by the students with emotional disturbance (M = 55.3, SD = 10.6) was significantly higher (t = 4.0, p < .001) than that earned by the nondisturbed sample (M = 49.5, SD = 8.6). These lesults indicate that the special education group produced more signs associated with emotional disturbance than did the nondisturbed group, and provide limited support for the usefulness of this new approach.

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