ABSTRACT
The
“Colour Family Drawing Test” applied a classification of colours on an
emotional basis leading to the distinction between “Alarming and Serious”
(black, grey, violet, olive-green, dark blue, red, yellow) and “Reassuring and
Playful” hues (pink, sky blue, orange and pastel colours). 120 participants
(aged 7 - 10 years, both genders), attending Rome primary schools, were
individually examined. They sat at a table with a white A4 card, 24 colour
pencils, a black pencil, an eraser and received the instruction: “Draw your
family”. The research objective concerns the introduction of colours and the
evaluation of emotional meaning of the colours used by children in drawing
their families. The families had been preliminarily evaluated as Harmonious or
Very Conflictual Families through a semi-structural interview conducted with
the children’s teachers. The drawings made by children of Harmonious Families
consistently used reassuring, playful colours (p < 0.01); children of Conflictual Families used alarming,
serious colours (p < 0.01).
The parents also compiled the LDM Inventory, in order to have a confirmation of
their level of psychological conflict. 33 “Very harmonious” parents and 22
“Very Conflictual” parents were selected. A comparison revealed that N/H scores
were significantly lower in parents of Very Conflictual Families compared to
the opposite ones (t53 =
2.95; p < 0.01). Conflictual
Parents do not develop harmonious interpersonal relations, preferring overt aggression,
with particular consequences for the family’s emotional atmosphere and for the
children’s personality.