Comparison between Thai and Indian Adolescents' Self-Figure Drawing as Child Abuse Art-Based Assessment.
Jaroenkajornkij N, Girish M, Binson B, Lev-Wiesel R ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001
This study compared self-figure drawings from 386 adolescents aged 13-18 years in Thailand and India (193 from each country) who reported experiencing child abuse, to assess whether this art-based assessment tool works across cultures. Thai adolescents showed higher dissociation scores while Indian adolescents showed more pictorial indicators of abuse in their drawings. The researchers found that while some drawing features were similar between countries, others differed significantly, suggesting that cultural factors shape how young people express trauma through art.
Key points
Thai adolescents had higher Medical Somatic Dissociation Questionnaire (MSDQ) scores than Indian adolescents
Indian participants reported experiencing a broader range of abuse event types
Thai adolescents predominantly depicted verbal or emotional abuse in their drawings
Significant variations in pictorial indicators were found between countries, except for hair, cheek/chin, omitted legs/feet, and omitted eyes
Cultural factors appear to influence how adolescents self-represent trauma through drawing
Limitations
The study used a convenience sample and does not establish whether pictorial indicators in drawings reliably distinguish abused from non-abused adolescents, so the validity of self-figure drawing as a screening or diagnostic tool for abuse remains unclear. The findings describe differences between two countries but do not explain the mechanisms behind these cultural variations.
Abstract
Background/objectives The current study compared Self-Figure drawings from Thai and Indian adolescents to assess the cross-cultural applicability of a child abuse assessment tool. The research aims to understand the extent to which distinctions or similarities arise in Self-Figure drawings among adolescents from two culturally similar yet distinct backgrounds characterized by differences in religious affiliations, socioeconomic contexts, and political environments. Methods Employing a mixed-methods approach, the study utilized quantitative measures, including the Traumatic Events Checklist (TEQ-5) and Medical Somatic Dissociation Questionnaire (MSDQ), alongside a qualitative analysis of Self-Figure drawings. Ethical approval was obtained with waived informed consent, and a convenience sample of 386 adolescents aged 13-18 years (193 from Thailand [M = 14.8, SD = 1.73; 135 females (69.9%) and 58 males (30.1%)], and 193 from India [M = 15.2, SD = 1.64; 135 females (69.9%) and 58 males (30.1%)]), who reported experiencing child abuse, participated in the study by completing questionnaires and drawing themselves. Results The analysis revealed that Thai adolescents had higher MSDQ scores, while Indian adolescents exhibited more prominent pictorial indicators. Indian participants reported experiencing a broader range of event types, whereas Thai adolescents predominantly depicted verbal or emotional abuse. Variations in pictorial indicators were found significant, except for hair, cheek or chin, omitted legs or feet, and omitted eyes. Conclusions These findings contribute to the understanding of how cultural factors influence adolescents' self-representations through drawing. The differences in pictorial indicators highlight the nuanced variations within similar cultures, emphasizing the cultural specificity of self-expression.
Findings the Hub has extracted
Each claim below is labelled by its type of design and links back to this report.
Use of Self-Figure drawing assessment alongside Traumatic Events Checklist (TEQ-5) and Medical Somatic Dissociation Questionnaire (MSDQ) to assess child abuse across Thai and Indian adolescents
Population
386 adolescents aged 13-18 years (193 from Thailand, 193 from India) who reported experiencing child abuse; 69.9% female in both samples
Key finding
Thai adolescents had higher MSDQ dissociation scores than Indian adolescents
