The Impact of Attachment Style on the Family Drawings of School-Aged Children

Objectives: Primary school children's representations of themselves and their attachment figures were explored by assessing their family drawings. The main aim of the study was to empirically explore differences in the representations of children with secure versus insecure attachment. The study was theoretically informed by attachment theory and methodologically based on widely-used systems for analysing children’s drawings. Method: The Separation Anxiety Test was used to evaluate the attachment styles of 117 children (aged 6-10 years). This led to the identification of three groups, similar in age and gender distribution, with three different attachment styles (secure, anxious-ambivalent and avoidant). Each participant was asked to draw a family and the drawings produced were coded on 8 global scales and evaluated for the presence of 35 specific markers divided into five categories (characteristics of the figures; use of space; completeness of representation; emotional-affective tone; overall characteristics of the representation). Results: The drawings of securely attached children featured more positive markers, associated with a stable and wellintegrated sense of self and others, whereas insecure children produced more markers of instability and negative emotion, with some interesting differences between anxious-ambivalent and avoidant attachment styles. Conclusion: Despite its limitations, the study confirmed that family drawings are a valid instrument for evaluating how children represent attachment, thereby facilitating early intervention to prevent later adjustment difficulties.