The bird's nest drawing and accompanying stories in the assessment of attachment security

ABSTRACT

Art therapists recognise the importance of clients’ early attachment experience. The Bird's Nest Drawing (BND) is an attachment security measure with potential for research and practice, developed by American art therapists. The client draws a bird's nest and writes a corresponding narrative, the latter assisting an integrative evaluation. A systematic rating procedure currently only exists for the drawings. The present study was conducted to determine the psychometric properties of the BND after adding new ratings of the BND story using data from an earlier study with university students. The current investigators established a systematic method for coding BND stories (N = 136). Content analysis yielded five ratings, which were examined in conjunction with the corresponding drawings and existing drawing ratings, and two self-report attachment questionnaires. Four of the 11 drawing rating items and the overall attachment rating had acceptable psychometric properties, as did two of the new story ratings. However, the seven items did not inter-correlate consistently, nor yield improved internal reliability. Construct validity using the established attachment scales was not established convincingly. Results suggest a need for further development of the BND taking greater account of psychometric principles of scale development, with implications for art therapy research and practice.

Plain-language summary

The relationship people have with others can be greatly affected by the childhood experiences they have with those caring for them and can cause what art therapists call ‘attachment difficulties’. The Bird's Nest Drawing, first developed in America, provides a way for therapists (and researchers) to understand people's attachment difficulties. Drawings can express what is difficult to say in words. The person draws a bird's nest and writes a short story about it. Inclusion of the story is intended to provide richer information about the client and his or her drawing.

It is important that the drawing and accompanying story provide an accurate view of people's attachment experiences. This is more likely if they use a tested set of instructions to rate elements in the drawing, such as how the nest is positioned on the tree. Instructions for rating drawings already exist, however no instructions existed for rating the stories people tell. In this study, we used 136 drawings and stories from a previous study with American university students, and also participants’ scores (from the same study) on well-established questionnaires about attachment relationships. We devised a rating system for the stories. Then we checked how reliable and accurate the ratings were for both the drawings and the stories. Part of this checking involved comparing the ratings with the questionnaire scores.

We found that neither the existing drawing ratings nor the new story ratings were sufficient when judged by established principles for good design of assessment measures. For example, the ratings did not sufficiently fit the pattern of scores on the established questionnaires. Although drawings can be helpful in art therapy when people find it difficult to use words, we suggest that therapists and researchers exercise caution in how they use the Bird's Nest Drawing (even with stories) until it can be further developed as an assessment measure.

KEYWORDS:

• Art therapy assessment
• assessment research
• attachment theory
• bird's nest drawing
• psychometric properties
• integrative assessment approaches

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Ji Young Yoon, MA, ATR, is a Registered Art Therapist, Resident in Counseling and works full time in private practice. She holds Master's level degrees in Developmental Psychology from Yonsei University in Seoul, South Korea; and Art Therapy from George Washington University in Washington D.C., USA. She has a previously published article in the Korean Journal of Developmental Psychology.

Donna Betts, PhD, ATR-BC, is Clinical Research Advisor for Creative Forces®: National Endowment for the Arts' Military Healing Arts Network. From 2015–2017 she was President of the American Art Therapy Association. She was on the faculty of the George Washington University Graduate Art Therapy Program from 2009-2018 as an Associate Professor and Research Director. A Board-Certified art therapist since 2002, Dr. Betts is also an award-winning scholar and has presented internationally on art therapy practice, policy, and research. Dr. Betts' most recent publication is a book co-authored with Dr. Sarah Deaver, “https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/e/9781317296959” Art Therapy Research: A Practical Guide. A complete list of her publications is included “https://donnabettsphd.wordpress.com/publications/”.

Sue Holttum, PhD, C.Psychol., AFBPsS works four days per week as a senior lecturer at the Salomons Institute for Applied Psychology, Canterbury Christ Church University, England. She works one day per week as Research Officer for the British Association of Art Therapists.

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.