Encyclopedia of Psychology and Law

similar across gender, ethnic, and educational groups.

Temporal stability (test-retest reliability) estimates for

the CAP physical abuse scale are .91, .90, .83, and .75

for 1-day, 1-week, 1-month, and 3-month intervals,

respectively.

Validity

Extensive construct validity data indicating the expected

relationships between CAP Inventory abuse scores and

risk factors have been reported. For example, the

expected relationships have been found between a

respondent’s CAP abuse scores and his or her childhood

history of observation and receipt of abuse, and the

respondent’s childhood history of observing marital vio-

lence. CAP abuse scores also are associated (in the

expected manner) with psychophysiological reactivity,

neuropsychological problems, social isolation/lack of

social support, negative family interactions, adult

attachment problems, low self-esteem/ego-strength,

stress/distress, inadequate knowledge of child develop-

ment, belief in corporal punishment, negative percep-

tions of child behaviors, negative evaluations of child

behaviors, low expectations of children, negative attri-

butions (e.g., hostile intent), authoritarianism, depres-

sion, anxiety, anger/hostility, aggression, mental health

problems/psychopathology, alcohol/drug use, problems

in coping, lack of empathy, problems in parent-child

interactions, use of harsh discipline strategies, and lack

of positive parenting behaviors.

Concurrent validity studies report abuse scale cor-

rect classification rates in the 80% to low 90% range.

Predictive validity data indicate that elevated abuse

scores in high-risk parents (where participants were

tested before interventions) are significantly related to

later cases of child physical abuse. In addition, numer-

ous studies have reported that elevated parental CAP

abuse scores are predictive of child problems. For

example, in a prospective study, before and after con-

trolling for obstetric risk factors, scores on an abbre-

viated version of the CAP abuse scale were predictive

of neonatal morbidity. In another prospective study,

before and after controlling for problematic parenting

orientations, CAP abuse scores were predictive of

children’s later intelligence and adaptive behaviors.

In summary, although elevated CAP Inventory

abuse scores have been shown to be predictive of later

confirmed cases of child physical abuse, the large

body of available construct validity data supports the

view that the CAP abuse scale may have even more

utility in detecting parents who are at high risk for a

broad array of parenting problems (as outlined above)

and is useful in detecting parents who are likely to

have children who have problems in their physical and

psychosocial development. Independent evaluations

of the CAP Inventory psychometric data have pro-

duced similar conclusions. For example, with respect

to testimonial admissibility, the CAP Inventory has

been judged to meet the Daubert standard as a mea-

sure of parental capacity.

Joel S. Milner

See also Child Custody Evaluations; Child Maltreatment;

Divorce and Child Custody; Parenting Stress Index (PSI)

Further Readings

Milner, J. S. (1986). The Child Abuse Potential Inventory:

Manual (2nd ed.). DeKalb, IL: Psytec.

Milner, J. S. (2006). An interpretive manual for the Child

Abuse Potential Inventory(2nd ed.). DeKalb, IL: Psytec.

Yanez, Y., & Fremouw, W. (2003). The application of the

Daubert standard to parental capacity measures. American

Journal of Forensic Psychology, 22(3), 5–28.

CHILDCUSTODYEVALUATIONS

Child custody evaluation (also known as evaluation of

parental responsibility) refers to the use of the legal

system to resolve questions of the distribution of deci-

sion-making responsibility and time with children,

often but not always in the context of marital dissolu-

tion. This process exists to resolve disputes between

two or more adults who have an interest in providing

parenting to a child and who cannot agree about how

the child’s care should be divided between or among

them. They may be divorcing or may have never lived

together in the same household (such as when grand-

parents vie for the right to parent a grandchild whose

biological parent is unavailable or when a child is

born to two biological parents who were never

involved in a live-in or marriage relationship). When

adults with a potentially legitimate legal stake in par-

enting a child cannot agree on how time and responsi-

bility for a child will be divided, the court, acting as

parens patriae, must resolve the dispute. Society’s

interests are served by ensuring that a child’s care is

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