Child Abuse Potential Inventory capi


Author: Joel S. Milner, PhD



Purpose: Screens for the detection of physical child abuse in parents or primary caregivers


Format: Paper and pencil, Online administration and scoring via PARiConnect


Age range: 18 years to 99 years


Time: 15 minutes

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The CAPI is a screening tool for the detection of physical child abuse to be used by protective services workers in their investigations of reported child abuse cases.

Features and benefits

  • This 160-item self-report screening instrument is given to the parent or caregiver who is suspected of abuse.
  • Intervention/treatment programs have successfully used the CAPI at pre- and post-treatment and on a follow-up basis to assist in program evaluation.

Test structure

  • The primary clinical scale (Abuse) can be divided into six factor scales: Distress, Rigidity, Unhappiness, Problems With Child and Self, Problems With Family, and Problems With Others.
  • Contains three validity scales: Lie, Random Response, and Inconsistency.
  • Manual includes information about administration, scoring, and interpretation procedures; an Interpretive Manual for the Child Abuse Potential Inventory provides additional information for interpretation of the CAPI, including applications, limitations, scale descriptions, and references.

Technical information

The Abuse scale has high internal consistency reliabilities (.92 to.96 for controls and .95 to .98 for abusers); test-retest estimates for the Abuse scale also are strong (.91 and .75 for 1-day and 3-month intervals, respectively).