Six physically maltreated children and 12 matched non-maltreated children (ages 4-8) were asked to draw their "favorite kind of day." Drawings were compared on three criteria: inclement weather, size, and movement of weather. Results showed that over a period of 18 months, maltreated and non-maltreated children consistently drew similar drawings.…

Experimental results indicate test items taken individually discriminate strongly between abused and well-adjusted children, but not between abused and nonabused disturbed children. Items used collectively discriminate between abused children and the other two groups. Based on these results, this test is proposed to identify abused children.…

This meta-analysis of 12 studies assessed the efficacy of projective techniques to discriminate between sexually abused and nonsexually abused children. Results indicated the techniques were able to discriminate distressed children from nondistressed subjects, but were less able to discriminate the type of distress. (Author/DB)

This paper reviews the literature on projective drawing tests and child sexual abuse, focusing on children's drawings as an associative tool for memory. The use of the event drawing series, which is a series of seven drawings by a child that graphically present the child's thinking about a specific event, is discussed. (JDD)

Recognizing the compelling language of imagery available in the drawings of children who have been sexually abused, this book focuses on the link between sexual abuse during the latency period and specific developmental problems. Chapter 1, "Paradigms of Trauma and Sexual Abuse," presents sexual abuse as an external event associated with…