Validity of the Draw A Story Test in Two Groups of Aggressive and Withdrawn Children

Assessment of validity of the Draw A Story test was the aim of this study. The sample consisted of 137 elementary students (53 girls and 84 boys) recruited from fourth and fifth grades، and were categorized into two groups of aggressive and withdrawn based on assessments. They were given the Draw A Story test (DAS). According to the results، the differences between the two groups were significant for self image (p<. 04) and non significant for the emotional content of DAS. The aggressive group showed stronger self image in comparison to the other group. Aggressive boys showed a stronger self image while the withdrawn children showed a weaker self image (p<. 04). Aggressive and withdrawn girls had higher mean scores in the emotional content than boys، whereas the aggressive boys showed a weaker emotional content (p<. 02). The range of positive to negative response frequencies were significantly different for both groups and both groups had the highest response frequency in emotional content in the range of moderately negative. The range of self image response frequencies in the aggressive group was significantly different and positive response had the highest frequency. The range of self image response frequencies in the withdrawn children was significantly different، and the unpleasant and negative responses had the highest frequency. Content analysis of the aggressive stories showed a high engagement ratio of aggression components with the highest frequency of murdering and killing imageries، while in the withdrawn children content analysis indicated the high engagement ratio with the highest frequency of components such as loneliness، fear and anxiety. These results indicate that Draw a Story Test is a valid instrument for discriminating aggressive and withdrawn children from normal subjects.