Background: Art has been credited with assisting children in strengthening their sense of identity, self-esteem, self-expression, as well as aiding in trauma processing (Hashemian, 2015; Kramer, 1972; Parisian, 2015). Though the theoretical foundation for art therapy as an intervention for aggression has been discussed, little research is available to evaluate this claim.  The available data consists primarily of case study methodology.  To add to existing knowledge, we employed a correlational study to investigate if there is a relationship between visual arts engagement and aggressive tendencies in children.  We hypothesized there would be a negative relationship between artistic involvement and aggressive behavior.

Methods: 148 participants completed the study.  Inclusion criteria included being the parent of a child between the ages of 4-12.  The average age of the participating parent was 35.4 (SD=7.09). The average age of child was 7.5 (SD=2.99).  Participants were recruited from the SUU SONA system and Amazon’s Mechanical Turk.  Participants completed a 16 item child aggression questionnaire, as well as a 10 art involvement questionnaire.   Both questionnaires were developed specifically for this project.  Participants recruited via SONA were compensated by receiving course credit. Participants recruited via Amazon Mechanical Turk were compensated with $0.10.