Date of Award

Spring 5-2004

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

EVMS School of Health Professions

Program/Concentration

Art Therapy

Abstract

This study hypothesized that five visual predictors of relapse previously found statistically significant by Dickman, Dunn and Wolf (1996) and Williar (2002), in the artwork of adult substance abusers, would again be found statistically significant predictors of relapse, in the artwork of the group identified as a high risk for relapse in Williar’s study. The body of artwork studied included twenty-two previously acquired, studied, and archived drawings (Williar, 2002), created by 22 chemically dependent adults. All subjects completed the assessment of warning signs for relapse (AWARE)(Harris & Miller, 2000) and were grouped as either high or low risk for relapse as a result. The artwork in this current study was compared by three raters, blind to the nature of the study, using a checklist of five possible predictors of relapse (see Appendix A) compiled from the predictors found statistically significant by Dickman et al. (1996) and Williar (2002). Of the five hypothesized possible predictors of relapse, two were eliminated from analysis due to inadequate inter-rater reliability, and the remaining three predictors yielded no statistically significant predictors of relapse. The study’s results as a whole may have been affected by the lack of adequate inter-rater reliability. This could have been improved through use of an initial inter-rater reliability test, versus testing for reliability later, as well as the use of an increased number of raters. For future research within the area of study including visual predictors of relapse, this writer suggests a retest of the five predictors identified by Dickman et al. (1996) and Williar (2002). Changes would need to include the use of another, more comprehensive, body of artwork.

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