Using the Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory-School Form, House-Tree-Person and Person Picking a Mango From a Tree in Salvadorian Children
Graduation Date
Summer 2006
Document Type
Master's Thesis
Document Form
Degree Name
Master of Arts in Marriage and Family Therapy
Degree Granting Institution
Notre Dame de Namur University
Program Name
Art Therapy
Dean
Judith Maxwell Greig, PhD
First Reader
Richard Carolan, EdD, ATR-BC
Second Reader
Doris Arrington, EdD, ATR-BC
Abstract
The purpose of this study is to investigate the validity of the House Tree Person and Person Picking a Mango from a Tree as measured by FEATS as measures of self-esteem by comparing the results to the Coopersmith Self- Esteem Inventory - School Form (SEI-SF). In addition, the researcher hopes to obtain a better understanding of Salvadorian children's self-esteem. Forty male and female Salvadorian student ages 8-11 years-old participated in this study. They were first administered the Coopersmith SEI-SF to determine levels of global self-esteem, followed by instructions to draw in pencil a House, Tree and Person. Lastly, participants were asked to use color markers to draw a person picking a mango from a tree.
Two trained raters scored the H-T-P and Person Picking a Mango from a Tree using the Formal Elements Art Therapy Scale (FEATS). The two raters were instructed indistinguishing the indicators for the H-T-P (placement, size of drawing, essential details, and line / stroke quality). In addition, the raters examined the PPMT using the FEATS, which consists of fourteen subscale system (prominence of color, color fit, implied energy, space, integration, logic, realism, problem solving, developmental level, details of objects and environment, line quality, person, rotation, and perseveration). These results were then correlated with the results from the Coopersmith Self- Esteem Inventory School Form. The results show the Coopersmith-SEI has a minimal correlation to the PPMT. A slight negative correlation was observed between Coopersmith-SEI and the H-T-P, as well as between the H-T-P and PPMT.