Joel S. Milner

Assessing physical child abuse risk: The child abuse potential inventory

Abstract To provide information on child abuse assessment, the psychometric base of the Child Abuse Potential (CAP) Inventory, a screening scale for physical child abuse, is described. A critical review of studies reporting on the reliability, construct validity, and predictive (concurrent and future) validity of the CAP Inventory physical abuse scale is provided. As part of the section on construct validity, I summarize the physical child abuse risk factors described in the family violence literature and examine the relationship between each of the risk factors and CAP abuse scores. Incremental validity estimates, derived from studies reporting predictive validity data, are reported. The utility of using the CAP abuse scale in treatment evaluation is also discussed. Throughout the review, inconsistencies in study findings and gaps in the psychometric base for the CAP abuse scale are noted.

Social information processing and physical child abuse

Abstract To increase our understanding of parental cognitions associated with physical child abuse, a social information processing model is described. Extant human information processing paradigms are used to guide the development of an organizational model which describes parental cognitive activities believed to mediate verbal and physical aggression against children. As part of the proposed model, automatic and controlled processing are used to describe how cognitions may be related. Following specification of the model, a critical review of the supporting literature is provided. Next is a description of possible relationships between personality factors and social information processing activities. Throughout the discussion, model limitations and suggestions for model testing are presented. The article concludes with a brief description of model implications for assessment and treatment of parents who physically abuse their children.

Childhood abuse and sexual revictimization in a female Navy recruit sample

To examine effects of childhood abuse on adult rape, 1,887 female Navy recruits were surveyed. Overall 35% of recruits had been raped and 57% had experienced childhood physical abuse (CPA) and/or childhood sexual abuse (CSA). Controlling for CPA, rape was significantly (4.8 times) more likely among women who had experienced CSA than among women who had not. In contrast, CPA (controlling for CSA) was unrelated to likelihood of adult rape. Alcohol problems and number of sex partners were examined as mediators. Although both variables predicted rape, their effects were independent of the effects of CSA. Finally, despite ethnic group differences in the prevalence of victimization, the predictors of rape did not differ significantly across ethnic groups.

Physical Child Abuse Perpetrator Characteristics A Review of the Literature

Physical child abuse continues to be a major social concern, particularly because the sequelae of physical child abuse can persist long after the experience of abuse. This article presents the practitioner with a representative, albeit not an exhaustive, review of perpetrator characteristics. Perpetrator variables are discussed under four major headings: social, biological, cognitive/affective, and behavioral factors. Each section contains a review of selected variables and a discussion of their possible roles in the occurrence of physical child abuse. Finally, implications for assessment and intervention programs are discussed. Given that no physical child abuse perpetrator typology has been adequately validated, it is underscored that interventions should be tailored to individual perpetrator characteristics with a consideration of factors from other ecological levels.

Prediction and explanation of child abuse

Administered the Child Abuse Potential Inventory to 65 abusing and 65 matched nonabusing parents. An item analysis indicated that 77 of the 160 Inventory items significantly discriminated between abusers and nonabusers. A discriminant analysis, which employed the 77 significant items, correctly classified 125, or 96% of the 130 Ss as abusers or nonabusers. Identical results were obtained from a stepwise multiple regression analysis. Principal axis factoring with oblique promax rotations yielded a seven-factor solution with relatively specific dimensions. The seven factors, or dimensions, were: Distress, rigidity, child with problems, problems from family and others, unhappiness, loneliness, and negative concept of child and of self. Further analysis revealed that the rigidity, unhappiness, and distress factors were the most meaningful dimensions in the understanding of why some people abuse children.

Childhood history of abuse and adult child abuse potential

The experience of aversive interactions within the family of origin is believed to increase the probability of parental physical child abuse. To test this hypothesis, 375 subjects were given a Childhood History Questionnaire (CHQ) and the Child Abuse Potential (CAP) Inventory. The CHQ contained a series of questions about the presence and frequency of various abusive behaviors and associated sequelae that were received and/or observed before and/or after puberty. The CAP Inventory was used to measure adult physical child abuse potential. As expected, a childhood history of physical abuse was significantly related to adult physical child abuse potential; and, as chronicity increased, so did abuse potential. The experience of physical abuse prior to puberty produced higher abuse scores than the experience of physical abuse after puberty. The study provides preliminary data indicating the childhood experience of a caring adult and / or caring friend moderates adult child abuse potential.

An inventory for the identification of child abusers

Conducted a literature review to identify personality traits that are characteristic of individuals who abuse and neglect children. On the basis of reported traits, a Child Abuse Potential Inventory that consisted of 334 items was constructed. The Inventory was administered to 19 abusing and 19 matched nonabusing parents. An item analysis was conducted to identify those items that discriminated between abusers and nonabusers. While the best 7 items accounted for slightly over 90% of the variance, the top 25 discriminators accounted for 99% of the variance. A principal axis factoring with oblique promax rotations was performed. Four factors, or dimensions, were identified. They were: loneliness, rigidity, problems and control. Additional analysis indicated that rigidity and problems dimensions were the best predictors of abuse.

Child sexual abuse and number of sexual partners in young women: the role of abuse severity, coping style, and sexual functioning.

The authors proposed and tested a model describing distinct pathways through which childhood sexual abuse (CSA) may lead to relatively low or high numbers of sexual partners in adulthood. Path analyses were conducted on survey responses of young female US Navy recruits who reported CSA (N=547). Use of avoidant strategies to cope with CSA was expected to produce higher levels of sexual problems and fewer heterosexual sex partners, whereas use of self-destructive coping strategies was expected to result in more dysfunctional sexual behavior and more heterosexual sex partners. As predicted, the effect of CSA on number of sex partners was largely mediated by coping strategies and dysfunctional sexual behavior.

Childhood physical abuse, early social support, and risk for maltreatment: current social support as a mediator of risk for child physical abuse☆

OBJECTIVE The study investigated whether perceptions of social support in adulthood partially mediated the associations between childhood experiences (i.e., receipt of physical abuse and levels of early social support) and adult risk for child physical abuse. METHOD Participants included 598 general population adults who completed self-report measures designed to assess childhood physical abuse, perceptions of early and current social support, and risk factors for child physical abuse. Structural equation modeling was used to test and cross validate a model that included the direct effects of child physical abuse and early social support on child physical abuse risk, as well as mediated effects through an influence on adult perceptions of social support. RESULTS Childhood physical abuse and early social support covaried, such that receipt of physical abuse was associated with lower levels of perceived early social support. Early support, but not child physical abuse, had an indirect effect (i.e., through current support) on child physical abuse risk. More specifically, levels of early support were directly related to adult perceptions of support, and adult perceptions of support were inversely associated with child physical abuse risk. Childhood physical abuse was directly related to child physical abuse risk. CONCLUSIONS Low levels of early support may impact risk for child physical abuse by affecting perceptions of others as supportive in adulthood. The receipt of physical abuse in childhood, however, does not appear to impact perceptions of support in adulthood. Research is needed to identify additional factors that may explain the association between receipt of physical abuse in childhood and increased risk of child physical abuse in adulthood.

Childhood history of abuse and child abuse screening.

Although a childhood history of abuse is related to parental child abuse, many parents with a history of abuse are not abusive. To determine the effects of a childhood history of abuse on adult child abuse potential, a modified Conflict Tactics Scale (CTS) and the Child Abuse Potential (CAP) Inventory were administered to matched groups of physically abusive mothers with a childhood history of abuse, nonabusive comparison mothers with a childhood history of abuse, and nonabusive comparison mothers without a childhood history of abuse. The modified CTS asked about childhood events and was used to confirm a childhood history of abuse. As expected, the CTS verbal and violence scales were higher for the abusive and nonabusive mothers with a childhood history of abuse. None of the CTS scores were different for the abusive and nonabusive mothers with a childhood history of abuse. In contrast, the CAP abuse scores distinguished between all three study groups. However, on the CAP factor scales, only the rigidity and unhappiness factors discriminated between abusive and nonabusive mothers with a childhood history of abuse. Nonabusive mothers with a childhood history of abuse were less rigid in their child expectations and were happier in their interpersonal relationships than abusive mothers with a childhood history of abuse.