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This study is to identify victimization patterns and analyze the association between the experience of polyvictimization and overweight or obesity among adolescent girls and boys. The sample consisted of 2680 Brazilian ninth-graders enrolled in public and private schools, taken from the São Paulo Project for the social development of children and adolescents (SP-PROSO). Victimization was explored in two ways: (i) as per Finkelhor and (ii) by latent class analysis (LCA). The interest outcomes were overweight and obesity. Multinomial logistic regression models were used to study the relationship between victimization and overweight or obesity, controlling for confounders. LCA grouped boys and girls adolescents into three classes. These classes received the same labels, but the patterns differed between sexes. Class 1 was characterized by fewer types of victimization suffered and lower endorsement values in the analyzed items and was named bullying and indirect victimization (♀: 42.7%, n = 546; ♂: 21.6%, n = 293). Class 2 included more victimization types than Class 1 and less than Class 3. This class was labeled family violence and peer victimization (♀: 29.1%, n = 356; ♂: 47.9%, n = 652). Class 3 was named high polyvictimization (♀: 28.2%, n = 345; ♂: 30.5%, n = 418). According to Finkelhor, polyvictimization was not associated with overweight or obesity in both sexes. Only the class of high polyvictimization was associated with being overweight (ORadj: 1.60, 95%CI: 1.01-2.54) in girls. In this study, polyvictimization was associated with being overweight only among adolescent girls. Longitudinal studies in different contexts and populations are needed to understand this relationship.

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OBJECTIVES: We investigated whether perceived social support among adolescent students moderated the association between violence exposure and internalising symptoms in São Paulo city, Brazil. METHODS: We tested the stress-buffering model using data from the cross-sectional school-based, survey São Paulo Project on the Social Development of Children and Adolescents. Internalising symptoms were measured using an adapted version of the Social Behaviour Questionnaire; serious victimisation, being bullied once/week, school violence and community violence, friend and teacher support were scales adapted by the research team; the Alabama Parenting Questionnaire measured parenting style. Linear mixed-effects models were used to quantify moderation effects of (i) social support between violence exposure and internalising symptoms and (ii) gender between violence exposure and internalising symptoms across schools. RESULTS: Across schools, being bullied once/week, school violence, and community violence were associated with a significant (p<0.001) increase in internalising symptoms (e.g., bullied b = 5.76, 95% CI 2.26, 9.26; school violence b = 0.48, 95% CI 0.30, 0.67; community violence b = 0.36; 95% CI 0.22, 0.50). Males exposed to all types of violence had significantly lower (p<0.01) internalising symptoms compared to females (e.g., serious victimisation: b = -1.45; 95% CI -2.60, -0.29; school violence b = -0.27; 95% CI -0.30, -0.24; community violence b = -0.23; 95% CI -0.25, -0.20). As a main effect, social support was associated with a significant (p<0.01) decrease in internalising symptoms across schools (e.g., positive parenting b = -2.42; 95% CI -3.12, -1.72; parent involvement b = -2.75; 95% CI -3.32, -2.17; friend support b = -1.05; 95% CI -1.74, -0.34; teacher support b = -0.90; 95% CI -1.58, -0.22). Social support did not moderate the association between violence exposure and internalising symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: Adolescent students in São Paulo exposed to violence have a higher likelihood of internalising symptoms, compared to those who are not. Support from parents, friends, and teachers, independent of violence, appear to be protective against internalising symptoms, pointing to potential programmes that could improve adolescent mental health.

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BACKGROUND: Self-control (SC) has been consistently found associated with diverse health risk behaviors (HRBs), but little research refers to low- and middle-income countries. Furthermore, there is evidence that some HRBs tend to aggregate, however studies with the specific purpose of addressing the relation between SC and multiple health risk behaviors (MHRBs) are rare. The objective of this study is to analyze these associations and provide evidence to help filling these gaps. METHODS: A sample of 2106 9th grade students from the city of São Paulo responded a self-administered questionnaire in 2017. We tested the association of SC measured as an ordinal variable with four levels (higher, high, medium and low) with six HRBs (binge drinking, marijuana use, smoking, high consumption of ultra-processed food, sedentary behavior and bullying perpetration), in both separated and aggregated forms (MHRBs), controlling for potential confounders. Binary logistic regression was used to test the association between exposure (SC) and single outcomes. In order to analyze the association of SC with MHRBs, multinomial logistic regression was employed. RESULTS: SC was associated with five of six HRBs investigated and with MHRBs. The effect size of the association of SC and MHRBs increased in a steep pattern with accumulation of more HRBs. CONCLUSION: Low self-control is associated with most HRBs investigated and the magnitude of the association increases when more than two or three HRBs are accumulated. There seems to be a group of adolescents in a position of pronounced vulnerability for MHRBs. This should be considered when designing public policy and prevention programs. In contexts of limited or scarce resources and public funds, interventions focusing the most vulnerable groups, instead of universal interventions, should be considered.

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OBJECTIVES: To estimate the prevalence of self-reported bullying as victims, bullies or bully-victims among 9th grade adolescents in the city of São Paulo, Brazil; to investigate association between bullying with negative health outcomes. METHODS: Cross-sectional data were obtained in 2017 from a sample of Brazilian adolescents (n = 2680) using a structured, self-administered questionnaire. Bivariate and multivariate Poisson regression were employed to assess in which extent the experience of bullying in position of victim, bully or bully-victim affects adolescents' health. RESULTS: Prevalence of bullying victimization was 18.3%, while victimization/perpetration and perpetration corresponded to 10.42% and 4.9%, respectively. Adolescents who experienced bullying victimization were more likely to present high levels of internalizing symptoms, to report self-harm, to present negative self-rated health and to use tobacco, when compared with those not involved. Bullies were more likely to use alcohol and to binge drinking. bully-victims presented a higher prevalence of all health outcomes, except for tobacco use. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings highlight the effect of bullying in adolescents' health, regardless of the position. Planned intersectoral efforts between parents, health and education systems to prevent bullying could therefore reduce negative health outcomes during adolescence.

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INTRODUCTION: Violence against children is a health, human rights and social problem affecting approximately half of the world's children. Its effects begin at prenatal stages with long-lasting impacts on later health and well-being. The Evidence for Better Lives Study (EBLS) aims to produce high-quality longitudinal data from cities in eight low- and middle-income countries-Ghana, Jamaica, Pakistan, the Philippines, Romania, South Africa, Sri Lanka and Vietnam-to support effective intervention to reduce violence against children. EBLS-Foundational Research (EBLS-FR) tests critical aspects of the planned EBLS, including participant recruitment and retention, data collection and analysis. Alongside epidemiological estimates of levels and predictors of exposure to violence and adversity during pregnancy, we plan to explore mechanisms that may link exposure to violence to mothers' biological stress markers and subjective well-being. METHODS AND ANALYSES: EBLS-FR is a short longitudinal study with a sample of 1200 pregnant women. Data are collected during the last trimester of pregnancy and 2 to 6 months after birth. The questionnaire for participating women has been translated into nine languages. Measures obtained from mothers will include, among others, mental and physical health, attitudes to corporal punishment, adverse childhood experiences, prenatal intimate partner violence, substance use and social/community support. Hair and dry blood spot samples are collected from the pregnant women to measure stress markers. To explore research participation among fathers, EBLS-FR is recruiting 300 fathers in the Philippines and Sri Lanka. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: The study received ethical approvals at all recruiting sites and universities in the project. Results will be disseminated through journal publications, conferences and seminar presentations involving local communities, health services and other stakeholders. Findings from this work will help to adjust the subsequent stages of the EBLS project.

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INTRODUCTION: This paper accomplishes two goals. First, we assesses the measurement invariance of legal cynicism among adolescents in São Paulo, Brazil, Montevideo, Uruguay, and Zurich, Switzerland. Second, we evaluate a series of social and individual antecedents that are expected to influence legal cynicism across contexts. METHODS: This paper first evaluates the measurement invariance of legal cynicism using Multigroup Confirmatory Factor Analysis with three randomized clustered samples of adolescents in Zurich (n = 1447), São Paulo (n = 2680) and Montevideo (n = 2204). Second, we assessed the correlates for legal cynicism in each city using structural equation modelling techniques. RESULTS: The results demonstrated metric invariance, but not scalar invariance among adolescents in São Paulo, Zurich, and Montevideo. We were able to establish partial measurement invariance for legal cynicism in São Paulo and Zurich, and therefore proceeded with the comparison of latent means and antecedents. The results show that on average legal cynicism is higher in Zurich, but that the size and strength of antecedents were similar across cities. Low self-control was by far the strongest correlate of legal cynicism. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, our results suggest that current operationalizations of legal cynicism may not be rooted in social structural context and experiences with legal authorities, but rather reflect how individuals interpret legal boundaries and dispositions towards rule-breaking. Researchers must reconsider how legal cynicism fits into models of legal socialization, and whether developmental models of self-control may help us understand the origins and nature of legal cynicism, as it is currently measured.

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OBJECTIVE: To assess the relation between early social behavioral tendencies and the risk of violent victimization in late adolescence. STUDY DESIGN: We analyzed 5 waves of data from the Zurich Project on the Social Development from Childhood into Adulthood (z-proso), a longitudinal sample of Swiss first graders (N = 1138). Early social behavioral tendencies were measured at age 7 years and included internalizing problems, externalizing behavior, prosocial behavior, negative peer relations, competent problem solving, dominance, and sensation seeking. Path analyses were conducted of the association between these tendencies and violent victimization at age 17 years, and mediation through intermediate victimization at ages 11, 13, and 15 years was examined. RESULTS: Several childhood social behavioral tendencies predicted victimization 10 years later. Though this was the case for both sexes, the number and type of significant risk factors differed. For male children, sensation seeking, externalizing behavior, high prosociality, and negative peer relations at age 7 years increased later victimization, whereas for female children, dominance and externalizing behavior were predictive. In addition, results showed that the relation between early risk factors and age 17 years victimization was mediated by intermediate victimization, showing that differences in victimization risk in early adolescence are carried forward into late adolescence. CONCLUSIONS: Childhood social behavioral tendencies predict victimization 10 years later. Incorporating this finding into early prevention programs could reduce victimization over the life course.

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Violent crime is a major cause of social instability, injury, and death in low- and middle-income countries. Longitudinal studies in high-income countries have provided important evidence on developmental precursors of violence and other antisocial behaviors. However, there may be unique influences or different risk factor effects in other social settings. Extensive searches in seven languages and screening of over 60,000 references identified 39 longitudinal studies of antisocial behavior in low- and middle-income countries. Many risk factors have roughly the same average effects as when studied in high-income countries. Stability of aggression over a 3-year period is almost identical across low- and middle-income countries and high-income countries. Dimensions of comorbid psychopathology such as low self-control, hyperactivity, and sensation seeking are associated with antisocial behavior in low- and middle-income countries, but some early physical health factors have consistently weak or null effects.