Emotional indicators of deaf children on the Draw-A-Person test

The purpose of this study was to test the validity of the Draw-A-Person: Screening Procedure for Emotional Disturbance (DAP:SPED; Naglieri, McNeish, & Bardos, 1991) when used with deaf children ages 9 through 12. Subjects were children with severe to profound prelingual hearing losses and at least low average intelligence. They were divided into two groups: emotionally disturbed and not emotionally disturbed based on a combination of factors. DAP:SPED group mean scores were not significantly different. In fact, the not emotionally disturbed group scored higher, or more pathological, than the emotionally disturbed group. More than half of the subjects from each group were misclassified using the DAP:SPED system. Results indicate that the DAP:SPED is not a valid screening instrument for use with deaf children and that there is a need for separate normative data for this group.