Does Family Drawing assess attachment representations of late-adopted children? A preliminary report

Background: Attachment representations of late-adopted children have usually been measured by attachment narratives or observational procedures. Recently an attachment-based coding system for family drawings was developed by attachment researchers and it was used both with clinical and nonclinical samples, but it has never been used with adoptees. Method: This study examined the differences between attachment representations of 29 late-adopted children aged 5–7 years (M = 6.35, 51.7% girls) and 12 non-adopted peers as assessed by family drawings, controlling for demographic variables and children’s cognitive status. The attachment-based coding system of family drawings included three levels: (1) 24 individual markers, (2) eight global rating scales (1–7 points), and (3) four attachment categories (secure, avoidant, resistant, and disorganized). Results: Late-adopted children assessed with the family drawings were more insecure on the attachment categories and achieved lower scores on positive global ratings such as the Vitality/Creativity and Family Pride/Happiness scales, higher scores on the Role Reversal scale, and a tendency toward higher scores on the Bizarreness/Dissociation scale. No difference emerged between the two groups regarding the individual markers. Conclusions: Family drawing seemed to be a useful tool for classifying attachment representations, and able to capture underlying mental states that it was hard for late-adopted children to express in words.