The family drawing depression scale

Described the development of a standardized rating scale for scoring Kinetic Family Drawings of depressed patients. The Zung Self Rating Depression Scale (SDS) and a Kinetic Family Drawing (KFD) task were administered to hospitalized depressives who met the DSM-III criteria for Major Depression. Using the Family Drawing Depression Scale (FDDS), family drawings were analyzed in the depressed patients, pre- and posttreatment, and in a group of normal control Ss (N = 71). It is concluded that the FDDS is a useful and reliable measure of depression. Potential clinical and research applications are discussed.