The Draw-a-Story test, devised by Silver, asks respondents to choose two subjects from
14 stimulus drawings, imagine something happening between them, and then draw what
they imagine. The drawings are scored on 1 to 5-point rating scale according to expressed
negativity and positivity. Low scores are associated with psychological disturbances. The
purpose of this study is to elucidate the power of the Draw-a-Story test to discriminate
clients from normal participants.
Based on the results of Silver(2002), Silver and Ellison(1995) which proved sexual
differences in DAS responses, participants of this study were limited to female only. A total
of 100 participants in their twenties included 41 clients who had asked psychological
services at counseling centers in Seoul and 59 normal participants. The Draw-a-Story and
Symptom-Checklist-90-R were administered to all the participants and the results were
analyzed by independent sample t-test, correlation, and Chi-square.
The results of this study were as follows: The client group showed significantly lower
DAS scores and SCL-90-R scores than those of the normal group. And there was a
negative correlation between DAS scores and SCL-90-R, which meant that the contents of
drawings drawn by people with many clinical symptoms were much more negative.
Analysis of chosen stimulus drawings indicated that both groups frequently chose a neutral
child, a women with a wedding veil, a parachutist, and tree. The normal group preferred a
chick, while the client group preferred a dinosaur and a men with a hat.
These results suggested that psychologically unhealthy female participants tend to show
differences not only in the relationship between stimulus but also in the kind of chosen stimulus.
A man with a hat, which has an opposite sex, might indicate low self-esteem and low
satisfaction of sexual role, while the chosen dinosaur might symbolize anger and aggression. It
is recommended for future study to include male participants and stimulus type B.
Key Words : Draw-a-Story test, Female clients, Stimulus drawing