Responses to separation from parents: A clinical test for young children

Abstract

(unassigned) Describes a new projective test for children based on 6 photographs depicting situations in which a child must cope on his own without help from his parents. The child is told what is happening in each picture and asked to interpret the protagonist's feelings and predict his behavior. There are parallel forms for boys and girls. Responses are classified on the basis of 14 categories grouped in terms of 6 main classes: attachment and loss of self-esteem, hostile, self-reliant, avoidant, anxious, and both attached and anxious. Several indices of adjustment to separation from parents are calculated on the basis of the number of responses in each class. Results of a pilot study involving 33 girls and 49 boys with an average age of 5 yrs 1 mo, attending a London day school, indicated significant correlations between test scores and teachers' ratings of adjustment for both boys and girls. Directions for administration and scoring are included.