Citation

Rivas GR, Arruabarrena I, de Paúl J. J. Fam. Violence 2021; 36(7): 899-910.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2021, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1007/s10896-021-00253-w

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The Child Abuse Potential Inventory (CAP) is a widely used instrument to assess the potential for child abuse. The brief version of the CAP (BCAP) is a proven time-efficient screener tool. This investigation aims to propose a Spanish BCAP version by analyzing the factor structure of its Abuse Scale (aim 1) and, if needed, developing a valid BCAP Lie Scale (aim 2). Study 1 comprised 205 mothers with problems coping with their children's behavior recruited from family support and treatment programs. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), internal consistency, and convergent validity were conducted. Study 2 applied an experimental between-subject design to assess a convenience sample of the Spanish population (N = 260) with 124 participants in Condition 1 (honest) and 136 in Condition 2 (lie). Differences between conditions were analyzed. Study 1: CFA showed adequate fit indices for the seven-factor model (RMSEA = .04 CFI = .98, TLI = .98). Internal consistency and convergent validity were adequate for the Abuse Scale.

FINDINGS also showed that the BCAP Lie Scale does not accomplish the main requirements to detect participants answering in a socially desirable way. Study 2: A new set of six items showing significant differences between conditions (U = 15,481.00, z = 11.14, p < .001, r = .77) is proposed to compose the Lie Scale. The findings support that the Spanish BCAP is a valid instrument to assess mothers recruited from Child Protection Services. The new BCAP Lie Scale could be useful to select valid inventories. Further research with more representative samples is recommended.

Language: en

Keywords

Child abuse potential; Child maltreatment; Lie scale; Psychometric properties; Validity