DETERMINANTS OF CHILD-ABUSE POTENTIAL - CONTRIBUTION OF PARENT AND CHILD FACTORS

Examined the contributions of child and parental factors to abuse pote ntial in 132 mothers of young children with and without disabilities. In addition to the Child Abuse Potential Inventory (CAPI), mothers com pleted measures of psychopathology, social resources, and child charac teristics(adaptability, hyperactivity, and maternal attitude toward th e child). Results indicate a significant contribution of child charact eristics over and above that explained by demographic and parent facto rs. Presence of a disability was not significant predictor of abuse po tential once other child and parent variables were taken into account. Mothers with low levels of social resources had elevated scores on th e CAPI when negative child characteristics were reported, in contrast to mothers with high levels of social resources.