The Application of Human Figure Drawing as a Supplementary Tool for Depression Screening
ObjectiveDepression is one of the most prevalent mental disorder in college students. The traditional screening method for is psychological measurements or scales, but social desirability can cause students to mask their thoughts, and an auxiliary projective test may be needed. This study was design...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2022-06-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Psychology |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.865206/full |
| _version_ | 1811336223048859648 |
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| author | Xuyang Deng Xuyang Deng Tiantong Mu Yu Wang Yuqi Xie |
| author_facet | Xuyang Deng Xuyang Deng Tiantong Mu Yu Wang Yuqi Xie |
| author_sort | Xuyang Deng |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | ObjectiveDepression is one of the most prevalent mental disorder in college students. The traditional screening method for is psychological measurements or scales, but social desirability can cause students to mask their thoughts, and an auxiliary projective test may be needed. This study was designed to measure the validity of applying human figure drawing (HFD) test as an auxiliary tool for depression screening in this population.MethodsThe HFD test was administered to 113 clinical participants diagnosed with major depressive disorder and 97 healthy college students with self-rating depression scale scores <50. Correlation analysis, chi-square tests, and logistic regression were conducted to identify specific drawing features that associated with depression and could differentiate between the clinical and control subjects. ROC curve was also implemented to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy.ResultsEleven drawing features were significantly related to depression based on the chi-square test results and seven drawing features were associated with depression based on correlation analysis. After logistic regression by controlling gender and age, three drawing features were associated with depression: shaded eyes, drawing clothes in detail, and drawing other personal belongings. Further, drawing clothes in detail and drawing other personal belongings were two significant variables in ROC curve analysis.ConclusionLogistic regression showed that shaded eyes, drawing clothes in detail and drawing other personal belongings were significant drawing features. Individuals with depression will have less energy to put extra effort into drawing and are less likely to have detailed drawings. And the shading of eyes may represent that depressive individuals have a low willingness to communicate and tend to isolate themselves. The results indicated that Human Figure Drawing could be used as an auxiliary tool in college students’ depression screening. Further, the ROC curve analysis showed low discrimination of single drawing features, suggesting that the application of Human Figure Drawing should be considered as a whole instead of focusing on the single drawing feature. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-13T17:35:20Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-b37f679540594852a67dbb0e1a0e6608 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-1078 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-13T17:35:20Z |
| publishDate | 2022-06-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Psychology |
| spelling | doaj.art-b37f679540594852a67dbb0e1a0e66082022-12-22T02:37:22ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782022-06-011310.3389/fpsyg.2022.865206865206The Application of Human Figure Drawing as a Supplementary Tool for Depression ScreeningXuyang Deng0Xuyang Deng1Tiantong Mu2Yu Wang3Yuqi Xie4Center of Mental Health Education, Southeast University, Nanjing, ChinaCollege of Humanities, Southeast University, Nanjing, ChinaCollege of Humanities, Southeast University, Nanjing, ChinaCenter of Mental Health Education, Southeast University, Nanjing, ChinaCollege of Humanities, Southeast University, Nanjing, ChinaObjectiveDepression is one of the most prevalent mental disorder in college students. The traditional screening method for is psychological measurements or scales, but social desirability can cause students to mask their thoughts, and an auxiliary projective test may be needed. This study was designed to measure the validity of applying human figure drawing (HFD) test as an auxiliary tool for depression screening in this population.MethodsThe HFD test was administered to 113 clinical participants diagnosed with major depressive disorder and 97 healthy college students with self-rating depression scale scores <50. Correlation analysis, chi-square tests, and logistic regression were conducted to identify specific drawing features that associated with depression and could differentiate between the clinical and control subjects. ROC curve was also implemented to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy.ResultsEleven drawing features were significantly related to depression based on the chi-square test results and seven drawing features were associated with depression based on correlation analysis. After logistic regression by controlling gender and age, three drawing features were associated with depression: shaded eyes, drawing clothes in detail, and drawing other personal belongings. Further, drawing clothes in detail and drawing other personal belongings were two significant variables in ROC curve analysis.ConclusionLogistic regression showed that shaded eyes, drawing clothes in detail and drawing other personal belongings were significant drawing features. Individuals with depression will have less energy to put extra effort into drawing and are less likely to have detailed drawings. And the shading of eyes may represent that depressive individuals have a low willingness to communicate and tend to isolate themselves. The results indicated that Human Figure Drawing could be used as an auxiliary tool in college students’ depression screening. Further, the ROC curve analysis showed low discrimination of single drawing features, suggesting that the application of Human Figure Drawing should be considered as a whole instead of focusing on the single drawing feature.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.865206/fullhuman figure drawingdepressionscreeningcollege studentsprojective testassessment |
| spellingShingle | Xuyang Deng Xuyang Deng Tiantong Mu Yu Wang Yuqi Xie The Application of Human Figure Drawing as a Supplementary Tool for Depression Screening Frontiers in Psychology human figure drawing depression screening college students projective test assessment |
| title | The Application of Human Figure Drawing as a Supplementary Tool for Depression Screening |
| title_full | The Application of Human Figure Drawing as a Supplementary Tool for Depression Screening |
| title_fullStr | The Application of Human Figure Drawing as a Supplementary Tool for Depression Screening |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Application of Human Figure Drawing as a Supplementary Tool for Depression Screening |
| title_short | The Application of Human Figure Drawing as a Supplementary Tool for Depression Screening |
| title_sort | application of human figure drawing as a supplementary tool for depression screening |
| topic | human figure drawing depression screening college students projective test assessment |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.865206/full |
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