Title : Projective testing as windows to the mind: Unveiling anxiety's expression through artistic mediums in teenagers
Abstract:
Nearly one in three of all Americans aged 13 to 18 experience an anxiety disorder. It is important now to accurately diagnose anxiety in adolescents. Current methods of diagnosis involve psychological evaluations and questionnaires. However, unconscious bias and stereotypes can impact the diagnosis, and it can vary between professionals, creating confusion. The purpose of this study is to explore a novel method to evaluate anxiety levels in individuals using a modified version of the House-Tree-Person Test and to uncover statistical correlations between the characteristics of participants’ responses and anxiety levels. The 107 individuals who participated in this method drew and colored a scene with a house, tree, and person, just like the original test. However, this dual-modal approach asked participants to verbally describe a story that explains the scene. This study used the Shapiro-Wilk test, Independent Sample T-test, Mann-Whitney U test, and Pearson Correlation Coefficient test to analyze the characteristics of the audio and scene. The results revealed a statistically significant difference between the anxious and healthy groups in lexical density(p<.05) and voice pitch(p<.05) with a negative correlation. The participants' responses also revealed a negative correlation between DASS-42 scores and average window width and height and a positive correlation in average tree trunk width. This research challenged the status quo in anxiety assessments and opened doors to inspire future studies with diverse sample sizes, hoping to create a digital real-time speech and drawing analysis system that accurately evaluates anxiety.
Audience Take Away Notes:
- Unbiased and accurate method to diagnose anxiety
- Significant negative correlation between anxiety levels and lexical density
- Using this method, teenagers around the world can receive the care they need before anxiety progresses.
- More accurate diagnosis of anxiety will lead to proper treatment, in turn creating a positive work environment.
- Researchers could develop quantitative systems using projective testing and speech analysis.
- The method could be studied in a clinical setting and tested on various age groups.
- Increases accuracy of existing diagnostic methods, preventing the manipulation and bias of results
