Drawings of depressed inpatients: intentional and unintentional expression of emotional states.
Twenty-six patients, aged 21 to 63, hospitalized for depression, and 26 control individuals were asked to make a "funny" and a "sad" drawing, which were scored on 22 variables describing their formal aspects and contents. Results show that drawings of individuals with depression differ from those of control participants on a wide range of variables, sometimes very significantly. Prediction of participants' groups based on eight variables obtained by discriminant analysis was correct in 98% of cases. Results support the usefulness of asking for the two kinds of drawings and suggest that depression is better detected through formal aspects of drawings than through their contents.
Miljkovitch de Heredia
R M
RM
Laboratoire de Psychologie Clinique et de Psychopathologie, Université de Bourgogne, Dijon, France.
Miljkovitch
I
I
D000328:Adult; D001155:Art Therapy; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D004644:Emotions; D005149:Facial Expression; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged