The Children's Diagnostic Drawing Series

This study investigated the Children's Diagnostic Drawing Series (CDDS). The first hypothesis was that the variables of the DDS Rating Guide applied to the CDDS would significantly discriminate between children in the treatment group (with a DSM-III-R psychological disorder) and children in a control group. The second hypothesis was that a cluster of variables of the DDS Rating Guide applied to the CDDS would emerge as criteria for diagnosing children with adjustment disorders. There were 90 subjects total, ages 5–17, who had various SES backgrounds. Twenty-eight of the children in the treatment group were diagnosed with Adjustment Disorder (DSM-III-R). Seven out of 23 objective variables of the DDS Rating Method significantly discriminated between children currently being seen in therapy and children not in therapy. Six of those seven variables had an interrater reliability of Kappa ≥0.50. Of the 23 variables of the DDS Rating Guide, 20 had categorical clusters for children in the treatment group diagnosed with adjustment disorder.