Toys in clinical interviews with children: Review and implications for practice

Drawing helps children to talk about their presenting problems during a mental health assessment

When children require mental health services, clinicians need to conduct assessments that are developmentally sensitive and that include the child's point of view. Drawing is a popular tool that is commonly used in clinical settings. Research on drawing in experimental settings has confirmed that the opportunity to draw while talking increases the amount of verbal information that children report during an interview. The present research examined whether drawing also facilitates children's self reports during a mental health assessment. A total of 33 5-12-year-old children were asked either to draw and tell about their presenting problem or to tell only. Children who drew and told provided twice as much verbal information as children who told only. Further, interviewers in the draw and tell condition used a greater number of minimal responses than did interviewers in the tell only condition. These data have important implications for clinical practice.

Drawing conclusions: The effect of instructions on children's confabulation and fantasy errors

Drawing is commonly used in forensic and clinical interviews with children. In these interviews, children are often allowed to draw without specific instructions about the purpose of the drawing materials. Here, we examined whether this practice influenced the accuracy of children's reports. Seventy-four 5- and 6-year-old children were interviewed one to two days after they took part in an interactive event. Some children were given drawing materials to use during the interview. Of these children, some were instructed to draw about the event, and some were given no additional instructions at all. Children who were instructed to draw about the event, or who were interviewed without drawing, made few errors. In contrast, children who drew without being given specific instructions reported more errors that were associated with both confabulation and fantasy. We conclude that, to maximise accuracy during interviews involving drawing, children should be directed to draw specifically about the interview topic.