The body-image of physically abused and normal adolescents

Abstract

Compared the human figure drawings of physically abused adolescents with those of normal adolescents. The Draw-A-Person test was administered to 60 adolescents, 30 of whom were victims of physical abuse. Significant differences were found between the drawings of the two groups on six of the eight scoring criteria utilized. Significant DAP aspects included erasure, clothing, detail, fingers, symmetry and arm position. The drawings of the physically abused adolescents, taken as a whole, seemed to be indicative of poor body image with signs of insecurity, inadequacy, withdrawal, and interpersonal problems.