Revisiting the issue of the Child Abuse Potential Inventory's internal consistency in adolescent samples

Although the Child Abuse Potential (CAP) Inventory is generally considered to be a reliable screening tool for assessing child physical abuse risk, there is concern that it may lack internal consistency when completed by adolescents (Blinn-Pike and Mingus, J Adolesc 2000;23:107-11). This concern has been reflected in subsequent reviews summarizing the CAP's psychometric properties (Walker and Davies, J Fam Violence 2010;25:215-27), and calls for data on the reliability of the CAP Inventory as completed by adolescents have been issued (Blinn-Pike, J Adolesc Health 2002;30:148). The purpose of this study was to provide additional data examining the internal consistency of the CAP Inventory as completed by adolescents in a variety of contexts.

This study included five samples comprising 3,281 adolescent and adult respondents who completed the CAP Inventory. Two samples included at-risk mothers who were enrolled in home-visiting services and were participating in program evaluations. Three samples included college students the majority of whom were nonparents participating in the research to explore the risk of physical abuse among children.

The analyses showed high internal consistency estimates for the CAP Inventory abuse scale as completed by adolescent mothers (Kuder-Richardson reliability coefficient range = .90-.96). Moreover, regardless of the sampling technique, parental status, or demographic characteristics, our analyses revealed overall good to excellent internal consistency estimates for the CAP Inventory abuse scale as completed by adolescent respondents. Indeed, the internal consistency estimates obtained from adolescent respondents were similar to the estimates obtained for adult respondents in each of these same samples.

Our results provide strong support for a claim of good to excellent internal consistency of the CAP Inventory with adolescent samples.