Trauma e discontinuità temporale nei minori vittime di disastri naturali. Il “Test de trois dessins: avant, pendant et avenir”

Trauma and temporal discontinuity in children victims of natural disasters: the “Test de trois dessins: avant, pendant et avenir”. Natural catastrophes are traumatic events as they can generate existential shattering in man’s life. Drawing has been employed for detecting psy-chological trauma in children as it allows to show traumatic contents. This study is aimed at exploring the capability of the drawing tool “Test de trois dessins: avant, pendant et avenir” in pointing out psychological trauma in children victims of earthquake. The sample is com-posed by 248 children, aged from 5 to 15, victims of the earthquakes in Abruzzi, Chilli and Haiti. The mixed methodology employed combines the drawing test and post-traumatic scales. Results show the efficacy of the drawing tool in displaying peculiarities of traumatic experience linked to the temporal discontinuity and to the existential shattering generated.