Examining Brief Child Abuse Potential Inventory Profiles within a Randomized Controlled Trial for Toddler-aged Children
摘要
Child abuse is a significant public health concern that impacts children worldwide. Efforts to connect at-risk parents with prevention and intervention programs require the use of high-quality measures that evaluate child abuse potential. The widely-used Brief Child Abuse Potential Inventory (BCAP) contains response bias indices. Little is known about factors that relate to invalid responses and whether these validity scales aid in identifying high-risk parents. Using a sample of 84 mother-toddler dyads referred for child behavior problems to an Australian outpatient clinic, the current study investigated factors that determined the likelihood of having an invalid profile on the BCAP. Logistic regressions evaluated relations between parent, child, and parent-child relational factors associated with the odds of having an invalid BCAP profile. Results indicated that greater parental dysregulation (OR = 1.047, p < 0.001), stress (OR = 1.043, p = 0.001), depressive symptoms (OR = 1.133, p = 0.021), and negative parenting (OR = 57.629, p = 0.049)) were related to increased odds of an invalid BCAP profile. Invalid BCAP profiles frequently occur. Parents with invalid BCAP profiles are a high-risk subset of parents that should be thoughtfully evaluated for child abuse. As parents with invalid BCAP profiles have historically been overlooked within clinical/research settings, the current research may inform best practices and enhance accuracy in parenting evaluations.