Biomaterial Database

Drawings by child victims of incest. 1985

A Yates, and L E Beutler, and M Crago

Art is an expression of the child's inner reality. Drawings by child victims of incest might be expected to differ from drawings by other children presenting at a child psychiatry clinic. This study compares drawings by child victims of incest with drawings by children referred to the University of Arizona Child Psychiatry Clinic for nonsexual issues. Each drawing was rated on 15 dimensions, including sexualization of the figure, degree of dependency, quality of ego defenses, and adequacy of impulse control. Child victims of incest were judged to have more poorly developed impulse controls and a defensive structure which emphasized repression. These children were also significantly more variable than their counterparts in the degree to which they expressed sexual features in the drawings, but were less variable in their rated maturity and in the rated adequacy of their ability to use sublimation as a defense against anxiety.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D007179	Incest	Sexual intercourse between persons so closely related that they are forbidden by law to marry.
D001828	Body Image	Individuals' concept of their own bodies.	Body Identity,Body Representation,Body Schema,Body Images,Body Representations,Body Schemas,Identity, Body,Image, Body,Representation, Body,Schema, Body
D002648	Child	A person 6 to 12 years of age. An individual 2 to 5 years old is CHILD, PRESCHOOL.	Children
D002675	Child, Preschool	A child between the ages of 2 and 5.	Children, Preschool,Preschool Child,Preschool Children
D003674	Defense Mechanisms	Unconscious process used by an individual or a group of individuals in order to cope with impulses, feelings or ideas which are not acceptable at their conscious level; various types include reaction formation, projection and self reversal.	Mechanisms, Defense
D005260	Female		Females
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D000223	Adaptation, Psychological	A state of harmony between internal needs and external demands and the processes used in achieving this condition. (From APA Thesaurus of Psychological Index Terms, 8th ed).	Behavior, Adaptive,Healthy Adaptation,Positive Adaptation,Psychological Recovery,Adaptation, Psychologic,Adjustment,Psychological Adaptation,Adaptation, Healthy,Adaptation, Positive,Adaptive Behavior,Adaptive Behaviors,Healthy Adaptations,Positive Adaptations,Psychologic Adaptation,Psychological Recoveries,Recovery, Psychological
D000293	Adolescent	A person 13 to 18 years of age.	Adolescence,Youth,Adolescents,Adolescents, Female,Adolescents, Male,Teenagers,Teens,Adolescent, Female,Adolescent, Male,Female Adolescent,Female Adolescents,Male Adolescent,Male Adolescents,Teen,Teenager,Youths
D001154	Art	Processes and results of aesthetic expression.	Arts