title: Comparing the drawings of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder with normal children.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is the most common behavioral problem during childhood and in school-aged children. Various projection drawings have been designed for assessing children's personality and psychological disorders including the tests of draw a person (DAP) and draw a family (DAF). We aimed to compare the differences between typically developing children and children with ADHD using these tests.
  
  
  METHODS
  In this case-control study, all the 9-10 year-old boy students studying at the third and fourth grades were enrolled from schools in the 2nd educational district of Shiraz, south of Iran. Eighty students were then selected and enrolled into the ADHD group and the control group. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th edition- text Revised (DSM-IV-TR), and the Child Symptoms Inventory were used to diagnose the children with ADHD. We evaluated and analyzed impulsiveness, non-impulsiveness, emotional problems and incompatibility indices in the DAP and DAF tests in each group.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A significant difference was found in the indices of incompatibility and emotional problems, impulsiveness, non-impulsiveness and DAF between typically developing children and those with ADHD. The mean (±SD) total scores of the above mentioned indices in the ADHD group were 19.79(±2.94), 12.31(±1.84), 5.26(±2.29) and 5.89(±2.13), respectively (P<0.001). The corresponding figures for these indices in the normal group were 12.11(±4.74), 5.63(±2), 10.36± (2.33) and 2.88(±2.13), respectively (P<0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Significant differences were obtained between the control group and children with ADHD using these two drawing tests. The rate of impulsivity and emotional problems indices in drawings of children with ADHD was markedly more common than those of the typically developing children. This suggests the need for further assessment to screen ADHD.
authors: Faculty of Medicine, Islamic Azad University, Kazerron Branch, Iran.
authors: Mahnaz
authors: M
authors: Haghighi
authors: Faculty of Medicine, Islamic Azad University, Kazerron Branch, Iran.
authors: Maedeh
authors: M
authors: Khaterizadeh
authors: Islamic Azad University, Arsanjan, Iran.
authors: Gholamreza
authors: G
authors: Chalbianloo
authors: Faculty of Medicine, Islamic Azad University, Kazerron Branch, Iran.
authors: Sholeh
authors: S
authors: Toobaei
authors: Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, Shiraz, Iran ; Research Center for Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Hafez Hospital, Shiraz, Iran ; Department of Neurosciences, School of Advanced Medical Sciences and Technologies, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
authors: Ahmad
authors: A
authors: Ghanizadeh
keywords: Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder; Child Symptom Inventory; Draw a Family Test; Draw a Person Test