The research is designed to develop and validate a client-administered screening scale for intra-familial sexual child abuse. The scale will be developed from items in a recently constructed Sexual Child Abuse Potential (SCAP) Inventory. The SCAP Inventory is an expanded version of the Child Abuse Potential (CAP) Inventory, which contains a screening scale for physical child abuse. The SCAP Inventory consists of CAP Inventory items plus new items that were added because of their putative relationship to sexual child abuse. The proposed research will validate and cross-validate items that differentiate intra-familial male sexual child abusers from matched comparison parents. Items selected for inclusion in a preliminary scale will undergo a multiple criterion screening process that will include determination of item-total scale score and item-modulator variable relationships. Following the final selection of scale items, a scoring procedure will be developed, and scale classification rates will be computed. A factor analysis will determine the descriptive characteristics measured by the scale. Internal consistency and temporal stability estimates for the scale and associated descriptive factor scales will be determined. The scale will be cross-validated on a sample of sexual child abusers and comparison subjects from a different site. A predictive validity study will determine the degree of relationship between elevated scale scores and later child abuse. Finally, the ability of the scale to discriminate between sexual child abusers and physical child abusers will be determined. The research will provide a tool for screening intra-familial sexual child abusers. Such a tool will be especially appropriate for use in social service settings where the base rates for confirmed sexual child abuse in reported cases is typically in the 33% to 50% range. In addition, the scale will provide a tool for screening other suspected caretakers, such as daycare workers, fosterparents, and children's home houseparents. The screening scale will be useful in secondary prevention efforts and in evaluating the effectiveness (through pre-, post-treatment, and follow-up assessment) of various educational and therapeutic intervention programs for sexual child abusers.
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