The Utility of the Formal Elements Art Therapy Scale in Assessment for Substance Use Disorder

This study explored the use of the Formal Elements Art Therapy Scale (FEATS) with a population of persons with a DSM-IV diagnosis of Substance Use Disorder who were court ordered for treatment. Two groups of adults (N = 40) were closely matched on age, gender, race, socioeconomic status and education level, and were administered the Person Picking an Apple From a Tree (PPAT) art assessment. The drawings were scored using the Formal Elements Art Therapy Scale (Gantt & Tabone, 1998). Acceptable inter-rater reliability was established on 9 of the 12 FEATS elements. Statistical analyses indicated that three FEATS elements in the PPAT accurately predicted group membership and that together, the 12 FEATS elements successfully distinguished the two groups with 85% accuracy. Implications of these findings for art therapy research and practice are discussed.