A comparison study of physical child abuse potential in parents who have children with mental retardation and in parents with non-mentally retarded children

This research examined child abuse potential in parents who have mentally retarded children and in parents who have children functioning at normal intellectual levels. The purpose of this study was to determine if parental child abuse potential was related to the child's intellectual level. The hypotheses tested were (1) There is a statistically significant relationship between the level of physical abuse potential of parents, and whether or not the child is mentally retarded; (2) The potential for abuse is higher in parents who have children with mental retardation than in parents of non-mentally retarded children. This study utilized two distinct parent populations whose children were being treated at the University of Tennessee Boling Center for Developmental Disabilities (CDD), or at Lebonheur Children's Hospital Resident Practice Clinic (Lebonheur). Lebonheur's sample of parents was used for comparison purposes. The sample of CDD parents had children with mental retardation, and the Lebonheur sample were parents of children with normal intellectual functioning. These two samples of parents were compared in terms of the level of their child abuse potential. The Child Abuse Potential Inventory (CAP) was used to assess the parents' abuse potential. This instrument consists of 160 questions requesting a simple agree or disagree response. The CAP inventory measures the parents' potential for physical abuse. Comparison between the two independent groups was made by using a t-test for statistical significance. The results showed no significant relationship between parental child abuse potential and having a child with mental retardation. Also, no significant difference in terms of abuse potential was found between parents of mentally retarded children and parents of children with normal intellectual levels.