Abstract
In order to prevent child abuse, instruments measuring child abuse potential (CAP) need to be appropriate, reliable and valid. This study aimed to confirm the 6-factor structure of the Brief Child Abuse Potential Inventory (BCAPI) in a German sample of mothers and fathers, and to examine longitudinal predictors of CAP. Two waves of data were collected from 197 mothers and 191 fathers of children aged 10-21 months for the "Kinder in Deutschland - KiD 0-3" in-depth study. Families were stratified based on prior self-report data for screening purposes. 138 fathers and 147 mothers were included in the analysis (invalid: 25% mothers, 30% fathers). First, validity of reporting was examined. Second, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was employed to assess factor structure. Third, internal reliability and criterion validity were examined. Finally, multivariate poisson regressions investigated longitudinal predictors of CAP in mothers. A previously established six-factor structure was confirmed for mothers but not fathers. CFA failed for fathers due to large numbers of variables with zero variance. For mothers, internal consistency and criterion validity were good. BCAPI score at follow-up was associated with baseline BCAPI score (β = 00.08), stress (β = 0.06), education (β=-0.19) and alcohol use (β = .58). Findings confirm the six-factor structure of the BCAPI among German mothers. The clinical use of the BCAPI in fathers is not recommended as it might produce data that are hard to interpret. Further research with fathers is needed to establish if this is due to limitations with this dataset or with the questionnaire.
Highlights
In order to prevent child abuse, instruments measuring child abuse potential (CAP) need to be appropriate, reliable and valid
Missing values for all Brief Child Abuse Potential Inventory (BCAPI) items were below 5%, which suggests that missing data are likely not a concern in terms of results bias
Differences between mothers and fathers were observed with regards to migration history, employment, caregiving arrangements for children, mental health, adverse experiences in childhood, and BCAPI Abuse Scores (Table 2)
Summary
In order to prevent child abuse, instruments measuring child abuse potential (CAP) need to be appropriate, reliable and valid. Objective: This study aimed to confirm the 6-factor structure of the Brief Child Abuse Potential Inventory (BCAPI) in a German sample of mothers and fathers, and to examine longitudinal predictors of CAP. The (CAPI) is a risk screening tool for the detection of potential child abuse cases (Milner & Ayoub, 1980). It has undergone psychometric testing and is widely used in epidemiologic and intervention studies in multiple contexts (Chan, Lam, Chun, & So, 2006; Miragoli, Camisasca, & Blasio, 2015) but most of the evidence stems from studies in the U.S Rather than measuring prevalence or incidence of actual child abuse cases, the inventory aims to assess abuse risk.
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