Two Projective Drawing Tests as a Consolidated Measure to Identify and Understand the Underlying Problems of Primary Children with Emotional-Behavioral Issues of Concern

The aim of this study was to determine if children’s projective drawings of single human figures using (1) the Draw-a-Person Intellectual Ability Test for Children, Adolescents, and Adults (DaP-IQ) and (2) the Draw-a-Person: Screening Procedure for Emotional Disturbance (DaP-SPED) could help in identifying those with emotional disturbance. It was hypothesized that both DaP-IQ and DaP-SPED could be useful tools for teachers if trained to use and score them in identifying children with emotional disturbance (ED) or emotional behaviour (EB) problems. The DaP-IQ and DaP-SPED results were compared with the Social, Academic and Emotional Behaviour Risk Screener (SAEBRS). Convenience sampling was used and 32 participants were selected from the researcher’s form class (Primary 5). During the identification process, nine subjects were identified as being at-risk using the total behaviour scores of the SAEBRS administration. Among these nine subjects, seven of them were identified as indicative of having ED or EB problems and two subjects were not picked up with the EB problem on the administration of DaP-SPED. Only one subject was identified by DaP-IQ and DaP-SPED to have ED or EB problems. The findings from this study suggested that the DaP-IQ and DaP-SPED were not sensitive enough to identify primary school children suspected with ED or EB problems. Therefore, the search for a suitable measure that could accurately identify children with ED or EB problems in Macau school opulation should continue.