The Child Abuse Potential Inventory: a study of concurrent validity.

Forty-four subjects were assigned to a High or Low Abuse Potential Group based upon their Child Abuse Potential (CAP) Inventory's abuse scale scores. Each subject's heart rate (HR) and skin conductance (SC) were monitored while the subject was viewing videotape presentations of an infant smiling, crying, or quiescent. The High Abuse Potential Group had a faster peak HR throughout the videotape presentations with no significant differences among videotape segments. The Low Abuse Potential Group had a slower peak HR and had a significantly lower HR during the Smile and Cry segments than in the second Quiescent segment. The males accounted for most of the significant SC variability among tape segments. The pattern of SC responses revealed that the males were less aroused than the females, the Low Abuse Potential Group was less aroused than the High Abuse Potential group, and all four groups showed a decrease in arousal toward the end of the videotape presentations. The results provide support for the concurrent validity of the CAP inventory.