Young children's representations of their families: A longitudinal follow-up study of family drawings by children living in different family settings

Family drawings of 166 children aged 7 years (97 boys and 69 girls, age range 6.7–7.9 years), living in various family settings–stepfather, single-parent, complex stepfamilies and non-step control families–were investigated; longitudinal data were available for 119. The exclusion of family members and the grouping of parents were examined in relation to family type, biological relatedness and residency. Longitudinal analyses showed consistency in familial representations and predictions of child adjustment over time, validating the measure. Children from step and single-parent families were more likely to exclude family members than children from non-stepfamilies. Half and step-siblings were more likely to be excluded than full siblings. Non-resident family members were more likely to be excluded than resident members. Children biologically related to both resident parents were more likely to group their parents together. Omission of resident siblings or biological father, and drawing mother alone were associated with poorer adjustment as reported by mothers. Omission of resident siblings added predictive power to adjustment. These findings indicate that certain obvious and easily-coded features of family drawings may be an empirically supported and useful research and clinical tool.