Children's Drawings: Self-Perception and Family Function in International Adoption

No comprehensive studies have examined the utility of family drawings within the context of international adoption. We examined the relationship of Kinetic Family Drawings by 54 internationally adopted children in the USA (65% female; M age = 8.57 years, SD = 2.1) to demographics, child competencies (Child Behavior Checklist: CBCL/6-18) and parental adoption satisfaction (Adoption Satisfaction Questionnaire: ASQ). Two raters independently scored drawings for: "emotion" (positive, neutral and negative), "boundaries" (unifying and dividing), "family composition" (inclusion of family members), "interactivity" (active or passive) and "self-emphasis." Drawing features moderately correlated with CBCL subscales ("emotion," "boundaries," "drawing composite": r range = -0.43 to 0.31, all p < 0.05) and parental adoption satisfaction ("boundaries": r = 0.42, p < 0.01). Significant drawing differences were also observed by gender, time since adoption, orphanage care and adoption visibility. These findings support the utility of family drawings as an informative, supplemental tool highlighting concerns related to children's pre- and post-adoption experiences, and their impact on family function.