Relationship between artworks and depression

Abstract

Background: Artwork creativity has been associated with mental health issues, but most previous studies have not directly addressed the relationship between art characteristics and depression in quantitative research, especially in Thailand.
Objectives: This study aimed to investigate a link between depression and artworks, which would characterize the sign of depression in the physical characteristics of the artwork.
Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive research design to recruit and evaluate 89 students from a faculty of arts of a university in Thailand who had produced painting artworks. Using the three following questionnaires: a personal information questionnaire, a 9-question Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) and student’s artworks were collected in digital files and evaluated using the Rating Instrument for Two-dimensional Pictorial Work (RizbA). Statistics used to analyze the data were descriptive statistics, Chi-square, Mann-Whitney U test, and multiple regression.
Results: The depressive prediction between personal factors and artistic characteristics, were considered effective at predicting depression (area under the curve = 0.742), and were in the expression of 6 dimensions of art, as follows: the graphic representation, the less vibrant coloring, the less organic shape and curved lines, the large unworked space, the vertical composition, and the inaccurate expression.
Conclusion: The accuracy of predicting depression using artistic characteristics was considered acceptable. Physical characteristic of artwork could objectively useful in mental health treatment. However, the performance of the prediction could be improved by inputting more data, in term of the subject of the artwork and number of subjects in future research.