Draw-a-Person-in-the-Rain as an assessment of stress and coping resources

This study examined the relationships between the Draw-a-Person-in-the-Rain (DAPR) and the Coping Resource Inventory for Stress (CRIS) and the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10). Participants were 40 clients with psychiatric diagnoses and co-occurring substance use disorders. Three raters used revised DAPR rating scales to score the drawings for stress and protection indicators. Intraclass correlation coefficients demonstrated satisfactory inter-rater reliability for both scales, Perceived Protection (r = .89) and Perceived Stress (r = .88). The number of DAPR protection indicators correlated positively with the CRIS Self-Directedness scale (r = .43, p < .01); there also were trends towards significant correlations with the Confidence scale (r = .31, p < .10) and the Mental Tension Control subscale (r = .30, p < .10). The DAPR stress indicators did not correlate with either self-report measure; however, the DAPR protection indicators and the PSS-10 did show a trend toward a significant correlation (r = .29, p < .10).