TY - JOUR
T1 - Is the Brief Child Abuse Potential Inventory (BCAPI) a valid measure of child abuse potential among mothers and fathers of young children in Germany?
AU - Liel, Christoph
AU - Meinck, Franziska
AU - Steinert, Janina I.
AU - Kindler, Heinz
AU - Lang, Katrin
AU - Eickhorst, Andreas
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 Elsevier Ltd
PY - 2019/2
Y1 - 2019/2
N2 - Background: 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. Participants and setting: 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. Methods: 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. Results: 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). Conclusions: 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.
AB - Background: 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. Participants and setting: 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. Methods: 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. Results: 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). Conclusions: 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.
KW - Child abuse
KW - Child abuse potential
KW - Measurement
KW - Parent-child relationships
KW - Psychometrics
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85059460499&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.chiabu.2018.11.008
DO - 10.1016/j.chiabu.2018.11.008
M3 - Article
C2 - 30620919
AN - SCOPUS:85059460499
SN - 0145-2134
VL - 88
SP - 432
EP - 444
JO - Child Abuse and Neglect
JF - Child Abuse and Neglect
ER -