Use of Drawings to Identify Thought Impairment Among Students with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders: An Exploratory Study

Abstract

This study explores how children's drawings, as rated on the Formal Elements Art Therapy Scale (FEATS), are related to their emotional and behavioral health. Participating students (ages 8-16, N=53), attending a therapeutic day school for students with emotional and behavioral disorders, drew a picture of a person picking an apple from a tree (PPAT). A discriminant function analysis indicated that ratings on five subscales— Integration, Realism, Problem-Solving, Developmental Level, and Details of Objects and Environment—predicted group membership into impaired vs. nonimpaired thinking (74% of cases correctly classified). This study broadens the use of the FEATS to a child clinical population. Further, results validate the use of children's art forms as a basis for clinical insight and suggest that children's drawings can be a helpful tool for diagnosis, treatment, and evaluation purposes.

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