An Investigation of the Clinical Use of the House-Tree-Person Projective Drawings in the Psychological Evaluation of Child Sexual Abuse

Abstract

Identification and evaluation of child sexual abuse is an integral task for clinicians. To aid these processes, it is necessary to have reliable and valid psychological measures. This is an investigation of the clinical validity and use of the House-Tree-Person (HTP) projective drawing, a widely used diagnostic tool, in the assessment of child sexual abuse. HTP drawings were collected archivally from a sample of sexually abused children (n = 47) and a nonabused comparison sample (n = 82). The two samples were grossly matched for gender, ethnicity, age, and socioeconomic status. The protocols were scored using a quantitative scoring system. The data were analyzed using a discriminant function analysis. Group membership could not be predicted based on a total HTP score.