Self-worth and psychological adjustment of obese children: An analysis through the Draw-A-Person.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate psychopathological correlates of child obesity via the Draw-A-Person test (DAP).


METHODS
The participants were 50 children with a mean age of 9.74 years. Body mass index (BMI) was used as a measure of body fat. Children were divided into normal (n = 17), overweight (n = 14) and obese (n = 19). Two qualitative methods of scoring the DAP based on an integrative approach were used to assess self-concept (ESW) and overall level of children's adjustment (EAC). A procedure for judging interpretative skills of clinicians was implemented before they evaluated children's drawings.


RESULTS
As predicted by our hypothesis, BMI was negatively correlated with ESW, r (50) = -0.29, P < 0.05, but not with EAC, r (50) = - 0.08, P = ns. To evaluate the effect of gender, Pearson correlations were re-computed regrouping the sample accordingly: BMI and EAC reached a significant negative correlation in female subjects, r (24) = -0.36, P < 0.05, and a positive correlation in male subjects, r (26) = 0.37, P = < 0.05; negative correlation between BMI and ESW became stronger in females, r (24) = -0.51, P < 0.01 but not in males, whose correlation disappeared resulting not-significant, r (26) = -0.06, P = ns. No effect of age was found. Results indicate that obesity has a negative correlation exclusively on overall adjustment and self-concept in female children.


CONCLUSIONS
It was concluded that there is a negative bias toward females that reveals how the stigma of obesity is widespread in Western society.
Giuseppe Scimeca, Antonio Bruno, Giulia Maria Troili, Gianluca Pandolfo, Maria Rosaria Anna Muscatello, Rocco Antonio Zoccali, Psychiatric Unit, Department of Biomedical, Dental Sciences and Morpho-functional Imaging, University of Messina, 98125 Messina, Italy.
Giuseppe
G
Scimeca
Giuseppe Scimeca, Antonio Bruno, Giulia Maria Troili, Gianluca Pandolfo, Maria Rosaria Anna Muscatello, Rocco Antonio Zoccali, Psychiatric Unit, Department of Biomedical, Dental Sciences and Morpho-functional Imaging, University of Messina, 98125 Messina, Italy.
Amelia
A
Alborghetti
Giuseppe Scimeca, Antonio Bruno, Giulia Maria Troili, Gianluca Pandolfo, Maria Rosaria Anna Muscatello, Rocco Antonio Zoccali, Psychiatric Unit, Department of Biomedical, Dental Sciences and Morpho-functional Imaging, University of Messina, 98125 Messina, Italy.
Antonio
A
Bruno
Giuseppe Scimeca, Antonio Bruno, Giulia Maria Troili, Gianluca Pandolfo, Maria Rosaria Anna Muscatello, Rocco Antonio Zoccali, Psychiatric Unit, Department of Biomedical, Dental Sciences and Morpho-functional Imaging, University of Messina, 98125 Messina, Italy.
Giulia Maria
GM
Troili
Giuseppe Scimeca, Antonio Bruno, Giulia Maria Troili, Gianluca Pandolfo, Maria Rosaria Anna Muscatello, Rocco Antonio Zoccali, Psychiatric Unit, Department of Biomedical, Dental Sciences and Morpho-functional Imaging, University of Messina, 98125 Messina, Italy.
Gianluca
G
Pandolfo
Giuseppe Scimeca, Antonio Bruno, Giulia Maria Troili, Gianluca Pandolfo, Maria Rosaria Anna Muscatello, Rocco Antonio Zoccali, Psychiatric Unit, Department of Biomedical, Dental Sciences and Morpho-functional Imaging, University of Messina, 98125 Messina, Italy.
Maria Rosaria Anna
MR
Muscatello
Giuseppe Scimeca, Antonio Bruno, Giulia Maria Troili, Gianluca Pandolfo, Maria Rosaria Anna Muscatello, Rocco Antonio Zoccali, Psychiatric Unit, Department of Biomedical, Dental Sciences and Morpho-functional Imaging, University of Messina, 98125 Messina, Italy.
Rocco Antonio
RA
Zoccali
Draw a person; Draw-A-Person test; Obesity; Projective techniques; Psychopathology
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