| The purpose of this study was to investigate the validity of the Tree drawing (Bolander, 1977). This projective drawing was studied primarily to assess its value to counselors and psychologists as a projective indicator of emotional trauma in children.; The validity of the Tree drawing was investigated by examining its relationship to.self-reported actual emotional trauma, and also its relationship to self-esteem. It was hypothesized that the Tree drawing scores would be related to actual emotional trauma.; The subjects for this study were 86 5th-grade students in two rural south mid-western schools who completed a Tree drawing, a Personal Data Sheet, and the Self-Esteem Inventory (SEI) (Coopersmith, 1981). The students were tested in groups of 18 to 35 students.; Data gathered included demographic data, SEI scores, and scores on 10 trauma characteristics on the Tree drawing.; All test scores were intercorrelated with each other and with additional variables of gender (41 boys, 45 girls) and family status (intact or ruptured). Interrater reliability on the Tree drawing scoring and the Personal Data scoring was determined. A 3 x 3 Pearson Chi-square analysis was performed for all relationships and significance of the relationships was accepted at the.05 level of confidence.; The hypothesis which predicted a relationship between the Tree drawing characteristics of emotional trauma and actual emotional trauma reported on the Personal Data Sheet was not supported by the findings of this study. Two sub-hypotheses were found significant and showed a relationship between emotional trauma and ruptured family status and also between emotional trauma and low self-esteem.; The results of this study do not prove or disprove the validity of this projective drawing when used in a one-to-one counselor-client situation. They suggest that drawings such as this need to be interpreted cautiously, using all available information on the client, including other test information.; References. Bolander, K. (1977). Assessing personality through tree drawings. U.S.A.: Basic Books, Inc. Coopersmith, S. (1981). Self-Esteem Inventories. Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists, Inc. |
