Spanish Validation of the Brief Child Abuse Potential Inventory (BCAP)

Journal of Family Violence (2021)Cite this article

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.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by a grant from the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO) of Spain [PSI2013-46272-P] and by a grant from the University of the Basque Country (UPV-EHU) [PIF2016/188].

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  1. Department of Social Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of the Basque Country, (UPV-EHU)|, Avda. Tolosa 70, 20018, Donostia-San Sebastián, Spain

    Gabriela R. Rivas, Ignacia Arruabarrena & Joaquín De Paúl

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  1. Gabriela R. Rivas
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  2. Ignacia Arruabarrena
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  3. Joaquín De Paúl
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Correspondence to Gabriela R. Rivas.

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Rivas, G.R., Arruabarrena, I. & De Paúl, J. Spanish Validation of the Brief Child Abuse Potential Inventory (BCAP). J Fam Viol (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-021-00253-w

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Keywords

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