Child abuse potential inventory in Italy: A comparative study of abusive and nonabusive parents

The aim of this study was to explore the reliability and ability of\r\nthe Child Abuse Potential (CAP) Inventory to discriminate\r\nparents in an Italian sample who are physically child abusive\r\nand physically nonabusive parents. The CAP Inventory and\r\nmeasures on parenting stress (PSI-SF) and parents’ attributions\r\nof child adjustment (CBCL) were administered in a sample of 37\r\nabusive and 102 nonabusive parents in an Italian sample: Both\r\ngroups of the respondents were similar in age, gender, marital\r\nstatus, and education. The Abuse scale showed adequate\r\ninternal consistency (α = .86) and 52 items significantly discriminate\r\nbetween abusive and nonabusive parents. Moreover,\r\nthe mean score of abusive parents (M = 194.5) was significantly\r\nhigher than the mean score of nonabusive parents (M = 78) and\r\nthe Abuse scale was correlated with parenting stress and\r\nparental perceptions of maladjustment in children (in terms of\r\ninternalizing and externalizing symptoms). Finally, with the cutoff\r\nsuggested in the original version of the CAP Inventory\r\n(Milner, 1986) when abusive and nonabusive groups are\r\ncompared (166), the Abuse scale correctly classified 70.3% of\r\nthe abusive group and 100% of the nonabusive group. These\r\nresults showed adequate reliability and validity of the Abuse\r\nscale for Italy.