The Clinical and Forensic Value of Information that Children Report While Drawing. Issue 5 (8th July 2013)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Macleod, Emily; Gross, Julien; Hayne, Harlene
• Is Part Of: Applied cognitive psychology. Volume 27:Issue 5(2013)
• Page Start: 564
• Page End: 573
• Publication Date: 2013-07-08
• Subjects: Cognition -- Periodicals; Psychology, Applied -- Periodicals; 153
• DOI: 10.1002/acp.2936
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0888-4080

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="main"> <title>Summary</title> <p>Drawing is commonly used in clinical interviews to help children talk about their experiences. Research has shown that drawing increases the amount of information that children report about some emotional experiences. Here, we aimed to investigate the use of drawing in interviews about other, clinically relevant emotions, and the clinical and forensic relevance of the information that children report while drawing. To do this, sixty 5‐ to 6‐ and 11‐ to 12‐year‐olds drew and told, or told, about prior experiences that had made them feel happy, angry, proud (confident), and worried (nervous). For all emotions, drawing and telling increased the amount of forensically relevant, episodic details (e.g., who was there and what happened) that children reported relative to telling alone. In contrast, drawing and telling did not alter the amount of information that children reported about clinically relevant details (e.g., thoughts and emotions). We discuss the implications of these findings for using drawing in interviews with children. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley &amp; Sons, Ltd.</p> </abstract>