“…Efforts to establish validity have been compromised by the lack of a theoretical basis for selecting individual drawing elements (Pianta, Longmaid, & Ferguson, 1999). Numerous studies have used attachment theory to explore whether children’s attachment organization and child distress are reflected in specific drawing characteristics (Behrens & Kaplan, 2011; Fihrer & McMahon, 2009; Fury, Carlson, & Sroufe, 1997; Kaplan & Main, 1986; Madigan et al, 2004; Madigan, Ladd, & Goldberg, 2003; Pace, Zavattini, & Tambelli, 2015; Procaccia et al, 2014; Schechter et al, 2007; Shiakou, 2012). Although these studies support the tool’s potential to differentiate security from insecurity (Shiakou, 2012), difficulties in developing a reliable coding method suggest that Family Drawings cannot function as a standalone method for assessing attachment.…”