Confirmatory factor analysis of the Child Abuse Potential Inventory: Results based on a sample of Chinese mothers in Hong Kong

Objectives: To evaluate whether or not the original six-factor structure of the Child Abuse Potential (CAP) Inventory suggested by [Milner, J.S. (1986). The Child Abuse Potential Inventory: Manual (2nd ed.). DeKalb, IL: Psytec. Inc.] can be confirmed with data from a group of Chinese mothers in Hong Kong. Method: Eight hundred and ninety-seven mothers from 13 child care centers in Hong Kong successfully completed a set of structured questionnaires consisting, among others, of the 77-item Abuse Scale of the CAP Inventory. A confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was performed to determine whether the data fits the factorial structure of the CAP Inventory identified by Milner (1986). Results: The root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) of the model (εa) is 0.031, indicating a close fit of the model in relation to the degrees of freedom. On testing the close fit against the null hypothesis that Ho: εa≤ 0.05, the associated p-value is almost one. This suggests that the probability that Hois true is extremely high. The estimated expected value of the cross-validation index (ECVI) is 6.185, which is less than the ECVIsat(6.703), giving another indication on the fitness of the model. Other fit indices also provide support for the model fitness. Conclusion: The original six-factor structure of the CAP Inventory tested by CFA is acceptable. The theoretical constructs underlying the CAP Inventory are supported by data collected from Chinese mothers in Hong Kong.