Page 108 - ART FORM AND MENTAL HEALTH - Ingrid Pénzes

formal elements as the unambiguous observable aspects of an art product represent the mental health problems of clients or how the clients cope with these problems.
Critics of existing instruments also refer to the wide range of opinions regarding how formal elements should be interpreted in terms of mental health (Pénzes, et al., 2018). Some criticize the emphasis on pathology, i.e. relating formal elements to specific symptoms of disorders (Chaffari & Caparrotta, 2004; Wadeson, 2002), whereas others call for more attention to be paid to clients’ strengths and resources (Betts, 2012). The aims of this study are to define formal elements that can be operationalized and analyzed reliably and are clinically relevant so their relationship with mental health can be tested.
In this article, we therefore report four studies that look at: 1) a meta- theoretical description of formal elements; 2) operationalization of these formal elements to analyze them reliably in clients’ art products; 3) establishment of reliable and clinically relevant formal elements; 4) the relationship between formal elements and adult clients’ mental health.
Study 1
Meta-theoretical description of formal elements
Study 2
Operationalization of the formal elements and testing inter-rater reliability
Study 3
Establishment of reliable and clinically relevant formal elements
Study 4
Testing the relationship between formal elements and clients’ mental health
Figure 1. Brief descriptions of the four studies presented.
106 | Chapter 5