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The psychosocial correlates and consequences of peer victimization are well documented. However, there is limited knowledge about whether different forms of peer victimization (relational and physical) are predictive of school-based social and motivational factors among adolescents from non-Western cultures. The present study examined the relationship between individual and school-level forms of peer victimization and school adjustment among Japanese adolescents, and the mediating role that these factors may play. The Japanese sample (N = 6109 from 185 schools, Mage = 15.78, SD = 0.29, 51% girls and 49% boys) was drawn from a large international dataset, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2018. Results showed that school-level relational victimization was associated with individual-level relational victimization, and school-level physical victimization was associated with individual-level physical victimization, after controlling for age, gender, and socioeconomic status. Individual-level relational victimization was also uniquely associated with indices of school adjustment (negative affect, positive affect, and fear of failure) over and above physical victimization. While controlling for relational victimization, individual-level physical victimization was associated with indices of school adjustment (positive affect and meaning in life). In further findings, school-level relational and physical victimization were indirectly, but not directly, related to some of students' school adjustment through individual-level relational and physical victimization. These parallel and differential associations suggest the importance of considering the role of relational and physical victimization in school adjustment among Japanese adolescents.

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Purpose: This study established the prevalence of physical and sexual victimization, associated factors and psychosocial consequences of victimization among 1,201 out-patients with severe mental illness at Butabika and Masaka hospitals in Uganda. Methods: Participants completed structured, standardized and locally translated instruments. Physical and sexual victimization was assessed using the modified adverse life events module of the European Para-suicide Interview Schedule. We used logistic regression to determine the association between victimization, the associated factors and psychosocial consequences. Results: The prevalence of physical abuse was 34.1% and that of sexual victimization was 21.9%. The age group of > = 50 years (aOR 1.02;95% CI 0.62-1.66; p = 0.048) was more likely to have suffered physical victimization, while living in a rural area was protective against physical (aOR 0.59; 95% CI 0.46-0.76; p = <0.001) and sexual (aOR 0.48, 95% CI 0.35-0.65; p < 0.001) victimization. High socioeconomic status (SES) (aOR 0.56; 95% CI 0.34-0.92; p = <0.001) was protective against physical victimization. Females were more likely to have been sexually victimized (aOR 3.38; 95% CI 2.47-4.64; p = <0.001), while being a Muslim (aOR 0.60; 95% CI 0.39-0.90; p = 0.045) was protective against sexual victimization. Risky sexual behavior was a negative outcome associated with physical (aOR 2.19; 95% CI 1.66-2.90; p = <0.001) and sexual (aOR 3.09; 95% CI 2.25-4.23; p < 0.001) victimization. Mental health stigma was a negative outcome associated with physical (aOR 1.03; 95% CI 1.01-1.05; p < 0.001) and sexual (aOR 1.03; 95% CI 1.01-1.05; p = 0.002) victimization. Poor adherence to oral anti-psychotic medications was a negative outcome associated with physical (aOR 1.51; 95% CI 1.13-2.00; p = 0.006) and sexual (aOR 1.39; 95% CI 0.99-1.94; p = 0.044) victimization. Conclusion: There is a high burden of physical and sexual victimization among people with SMI in central Uganda. There is need to put in place and evaluate complex interventions for improving detection and response to abusive experiences within mental health services. Public health practitioners, policymakers, and legislators should act to protect the health and rights of people with SMI in resource poor settings.

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Large-scale epidemiological studies have documented that many children and adolescents are exposed to different forms of victimization experiences. However, such population-based studies have rarely examined how specific types of victimization are correlated with health indicators. Thus, we investigated sexual victimization, physical victimization by parents, and physical victimization by peers and their associations with sexual health, mental health, and substance use. We gathered data from a nationally representative sample of Norwegian 18-19-year-old students in their final year of senior high school (N = 2075; 59.1% girls). The analyses showed that 12.1% of the adolescents reported sexual victimization experiences. Physical victimization was more prevalent: 19.5% of the respondents had been exposed to victimization from parents and 18.9% from peers. Multivariate analyses revealed specific associations between sexual victimization and a range of sexual health indicators, such as early sexual intercourse debut, many sexual partners, engaging in sex without contraception while intoxicated, and participating in sexual acts for payment. Neither physical victimization from parents nor from peers were correlated with these variables. However, all three forms of victimization were associated with impaired mental health and potential substance use problems. We conclude that a variety of victimization experiences should be addressed in policies for prevention of adolescent mental health and substance use problems. In addition, a special emphasis is warranted regarding sexual victimization: Sexual health policies should address such potential experiences in addition to more traditional themes such as reproductive health and should also include low-threshold services for young victims of sexual victimization.

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The associations between relational victimization, self-blame attributions, and internalizing problems in early childhood has not previously been examined. Using a sample of 116 preschool children, average age 44.05 months (SD = 4.23), multiple informants, multiple methods, and a longitudinal design, path analyses were conducted to explore the associations between relational victimization, self-blame attributions (Characterological Self-Blame[CSB] and Behavioral Self-Blame[BSB]), and maladjustment in early childhood. Concurrent significant associations were found between relational victimization and internalizing problems. The initial longitudinal models revealed some significant effects that were consistent with predictions. Importantly, follow-up tests decomposing internalizing problems, indicated that anxiety at Time 1 was positively and significantly associated with CSB at Time 2. Depression at Time 1 was negatively and significantly associated with CSB at Time 2. Implications of this work are discussed.

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This systematic review investigated the prevalence of prison-based interpersonal harm by type of victimization (physical and sexual) and sex, along with the heterogeneity among studies using meta-regression. Using Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and the Meta-Analysis guidelines, 24 articles met the selection criteria. Study quality was assessed using the Joana Briggs Institute (20.8% deemed low quality, 33.3% moderate, and 45.9% high). Searches were conducted in Criminal Justice Abstracts, PsycINFO, PubMed, and Web of Science. The 24 articles comprised 36 separate samples inclusive of 23,967 incarcerated individuals. The random-effects pooled prevalence estimate of prison-based physical victimization was 18.8%, with slightly higher rates for females (20.3%) than males (18.1%). For sexual victimization, the pooled prevalence estimate was 12.4%, with higher rates among females (15.3%) than males (9.7%). For females, younger individuals reported higher rates of physical and sexual victimization and studies using smaller samples had higher rates of physical victimization. Rates of physical and sexual victimization for men were higher if perpetrators included residents and staff, the recall period was since admission, data was collected using self-administered surveys, and in low-quality studies (sexual victimization only). Rates of prison-based interpersonal harm, while high, varied significantly by type of victimization, sex, and study methodology. High heterogeneity will be reduced only if future studies adhere to best methodological practices in defining and collecting data on interpersonal harm and consistently test risk and prevention factors instrumental to prevention efforts. Study limitations include the exclusion of unpublished and non-English-language studies, small sample sizes for female studies, and methodological "noise" within the literature that reduce predictive precision.

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According to recent international studies, most of the adolescent victims of physical dating violence remain satisfied and committed toward their abusive relationship, giving way to long-term relationships in which the abuse tends to persist and increase in frequency and severity. The objective of this study is to contribute to the understanding of the stay/leave decision of the adolescent victims of physical dating violence. A structural equation model was estimated to explain the direct and indirect contribution of the level of satisfaction, commitment, justification of the aggression, relationship duration, psychological coercion toward commitment, and the consequences of the abuse on the victims' decision to continue in the abusive relationship. The sample was 456 Latinx adolescents aged between 12 and 18 years. The results corroborate that the decision to leave a physically abusive dating relationship is a complex phenomenon related to subjective variables such as (a) the level of satisfaction, (b) cognitive evaluation of the aggression (especially in those couples who have been together for a long time), and (c) the exposure to psychological pressures toward commitment. Future preventive strategies must incorporate actions to help the youngest to evaluate in a more objective and adequate way, the real quality of their first relationships, and aim to modify the justification of the aggression, the recognition of the potential harm, and to foster an adequate balance between the benefits and harm of staying in the abusive relationship.

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Victimization is common inside prisons and much remains unknown about the predictors of violence against incarcerated women. A sample of 564 incarcerated women was used to examine the link between in-prison victimization, childhood (physical, sexual, and emotional) harm, and mental illness. Nearly half or more of women reported childhood harm and over one-quarter experienced in-prison victimization. Childhood harm fell into four latent classes and low sexual abuse and high abuse classes predicted resident-on-resident sexual victimization, as did single types of childhood harm. Current depressive symptoms and perceptions of overcrowding predicted physical and sexual victimization perpetrated by residents and correctional staff.

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Children exposed to peer victimization are at increased risk for psychopathology. However, the physiological mechanisms linking peer victimization to child psychopathology and the potential gender differences in these links remain inadequately understood. The present study examined whether cortisol reactivity to acute stress mediated the associations between relational and physical victimization and internalizing and externalizing problems and whether these associations differed between boys and girls. A sample of 150 Chinese children (aged 9-13 years; Mage = 10.69 years; 51% boys) reported experiences of relational and physical victimization and participated in a standardized laboratory psychosocial stress task, during which six salivary cortisol samples were collected. Parents or primary caregivers reported their children's internalizing and externalizing problems. Overall, neither physical nor relational victimization was associated with cortisol reactivity. However, when examined separately by gender, relational victimization was associated with blunted cortisol reactivity for boys but not for girls. Further, among boys but not girls, relational victimization was indirectly associated with internalizing and externalizing problems via blunted cortisol reactivity. Our findings suggest that blunted cortisol reactivity may serve as a physiological pathway linking peer victimization to psychopathology for boys but not for girls.

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The aim of the present study was to determine the prevalence and severity of teen dating violence victimization in Spanish adolescents from both community and at-risk samples. The sample comprised 1,105 community adolescents from secondary schools, 149 adolescents from child, and adolescent mental health centers, 129 from residential care centers associated with the child welfare system, and 101 from centers in the juvenile justice system. The participants, aged between 14 and 17 years, were interviewed using the Juvenile Victimization Questionnaire. The lifetime prevalence of victimization in dating relationships ranged from 2.5% to 33.7%. The prevalence of physical victimization was slightly higher in boys, while sexual and electronic victimization and injuries were more prevalent in girls. In conclusion, teen dating violence is a prevalent problem in Spain that needs to be addressed to prevent adolescents from developing risk behaviors and to avoid adverse consequences on mental health, especially in at-risk adolescents.

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INTRODUCTION: Peer victimization has been widely examined among children and adolescents; however, the majority of studies in the area of research have been conducted in Western cultures. The goal of the present study was to evaluate the utility of measures that assess different forms of victimization (physical and relational victimization; a two-factor model) against a global form of victimization (combined victimization; a one-factor model) in the peer groups and friendships among Japanese adolescents. It was hypothesized that peer and friend relational victimization would be conceptually distinct from peer and friend physical victimization in Japan. METHODS: The participants were fourth and fifth graders (n = 222, 50% females, age 9-11) and their classroom teachers in Japanese elementary schools. The data were drawn from a short-term longitudinal study. RESULTS: Results showed, as hypothesized, that peer and friend relational victimization was conceptually and empirically different from peer and friend physical victimization. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that children and teachers view peer and friend relational victimization and peer and friend physical victimization differently. Examining forms of victimization separately is promising for future peer relations research in Japan.

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Peer victimization is a persistent problem in early adolescents' peer relationships that is related to various difficulties in the short and long run. Previous studies have investigated whether relationships with peers and teachers predict victimization, but to date, few studies have examined the simultaneous contribution of both classroom-based relationships to victimization over time. Therefore, this study investigated how peer rejection and teacher-child relationships uniquely predict peer victimization over the course of one school year in upper elementary school. The transactional associations among teacher-child relationships, peer rejection, and relational and physical victimization were examined in a sample of 692 children (36 classes; Mage = 10.28; range: 7.92-13.14; 48.4% female). Teacher-child relationship quality and peer victimization were measured by student self-report, peer rejection by peer-report. Cross-lagged analyses showed that rejection predicted victimization from wave 1 to wave 2. In turn, more victimization predicted more rejection throughout the whole school year. More supportive teacher-child relationships predicted less victimization. Additionally, more victimization (wave 1) predicted less supportive relationships with teachers (wave 2). Peer rejection and teacher-child relationships were found to have unique, additive effects on victimization in early adolescence over time. Therefore, to effectively intervene in victimization processes, relationships with both peers and teachers need to be considered.

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OBJECTIVE: Peer victimization is linked to psychological distress, but some youth are less affected than others. Identifying protective factors can inform prevention programs. Using longitudinal data from 7th graders we tested the role of social intelligence as a protective factor in the relation between peer victimization and depressive symptoms. METHOD: Students (N = 986; 54% female; 43% non-white) from three schools provided self-report data via computer-assisted survey interviews in the fall (Time 1, T1) and spring (Time 2, T2) of 7th grade. RESULTS: Females reported more depressive symptoms and less physical victimization than males but did not differ from males on social intelligence or relational victimization. Regression analyses controlling for T1 depressive symptoms and other potential confounds revealed that both physical and relational victimization were positively and significantly associated with T2 depressive symptoms, but the strength of the relation varied by gender and by social intelligence. Specifically, the associations between victimization and depressive symptoms were stronger among females than males and among those with low or moderate rather than high social intelligence. CONCLUSIONS: Social intelligence may protect youth from the psychological harms of peer victimization and could be an effective target of prevention programming.

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This study examines child physical abuse, social and psychological resources, and street physical victimization among 150 homeless youth from the Midwest. Path analyses results show that males have higher self-efficacy than females, while older youth and those who experienced less child physical abuse reported higher self-esteem. Self-efficacy and self-esteem were positively associated with social support as was being younger and having experienced less child physical abuse. Younger respondents reported fewer difficulties obtaining basic necessities, and those who had less trouble finding these necessities experienced less street physical victimization. Females, younger youth, and those who experienced less child physical abuse reported lower rates of physical victimization. Agencies should be aware that many youth experiencing homelessness have trouble obtaining basic necessities, which increases risk for victimization. Moreover, the ability to obtain necessities appears to override the influential role of social support, further affirming the foundational importance of agencies helping youth meet their basic needs.

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Professionals and policy makers have only recently begun to recognize the extent to which different types of victimization are interconnected. To enhance our knowledge of the co-occurrence of physical and sexual violence across childhood and adolescence/early adulthood, the present study investigated distinct typologies of victimization in a sample of adolescents and young adults and explored the relationship between victimization typologies and gender, age, and mental health. Data from the Danish 2013 National Health Survey ("How are you?") were used. Latent class analysis (i.e., a person-centered approach) was used to identify typologies of physical and sexual victimization in a representative sample of 3812 adolescents and young adults aged 16-24 years. Five distinct victimization typologies emerged: a normative, non-victimization group (76%), a physical victimization in adolescence/early adulthood group (13%), a physical revictimization group (5%), a poly-victimization group (4%), and a physical victimization in childhood group (2%). Physical revictimization, poly-victimization, and physical victimization in childhood were highly associated with poor mental health status. Using a latent variable modeling approach, we identified meaningful subgroups of the victimized population. Two subgroups (i.e., physical revictimization and poly-victimization), which comprised a third of all individuals in the victimization subgroups, had a high probability of exposure to multiple traumatic events and poor mental health. These study findings underscore the need to promote interventions addressing the co-occurrence of physical and sexual victimization and the persistence of victimization over time.

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The social risk factors for physical and relational peer victimization were examined within a mixed-gender sample of children with and without attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Participants were 124 children (ages 8-12 years; 48% boys), with 47% exhibiting sub-clinical or clinical elevations in ADHD symptoms. ADHD and oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) symptom counts were assessed based on parent- and teacher-reports; parents rated children's social problems and teachers rated children's use of physical and relational aggression and experiences of physical and relational victimization. A multiple mediator model was used to test whether there were indirect effects of ADHD or ODD symptoms on physical and relational victimization through social problems, physical aggression, or relational aggression. At the bivariate level, ADHD and ODD symptoms were both significantly associated with higher rates of physical and relational victimization. In the mediational model, there were significant indirect effects of ADHD symptoms on relational victimization via social problems, of ODD on relational victimization via relational aggression, and of ODD symptoms on physical victimization via physical aggression. Results suggest that there are distinct risk factors implicated in the physical and relational victimization of youth with ADHD and that the co-occurrence of ODD symptoms is important to assess. Clinical implications for addressing victimization in children with ADHD are discussed.

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The current study took a novel approach to examining peer victimization experiences on a continuum in early childhood. A bifactor approach was used to examine co-occurring victimization as well as the relative contribution of subtypes of victimization, including both physical and relational victimization. To date, no known research has examined co-occurring victimization in early childhood. The fit of a bifactor model, as well as the utility of the model in testing associations with internalizing problems, was examined. The short-term longitudinal study (N=231; 109 girls; Mage=47.46months, SD=7.35) found support for a hierarchical structure of victimization, including co-occurrence and "pure" victimization dimensions, in early childhood. Regression analyses supported that both co-occurring victimization and relational victimization were associated with internalizing adjustment outcomes. These associations differed by gender. A bifactor model may be a useful statistical technique to address the common finding of co-occurrence of victimization to better understand peer harassment experiences and risk for adjustment problems.

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This short-term longitudinal study examined the association between relational and physical victimization and subsequent depressive symptoms together with the roles of social cognitive processes (i.e., relational interdependence) and gender in this association. A total of 580 Japanese adolescents in the seventh and eighth grades (52 % girls; age range 12-14) participated in this study across an academic year. Results of structural equation modeling demonstrated that relational and physical victimization, which was assessed via self- and teacher- reports, was concurrently associated with greater depressive symptoms, regardless of the gender of the youth and the level of relational interdependence. Furthermore, after controlling for the stability and co-occurrence between each construct, relational victimization (not physical victimization) was predictive of elevated depressive symptoms only for boys who exhibited relatively higher relational interdependence. The findings are discussed from developmental, gender, and cultural perspectives.

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Physical victimization and substance use are common behaviors inside prisons. Yet little is known about whether there is an association between substance use and physical victimization among male inmates. We examined the absolute and relative association between substance use (prior to, during, and both prior to and during incarceration) and physical victimization while incarcerated. For this study, 2484 men (mean age of 36.3years; SD=11.1) were sampled from eight prisons located in Spain. Information was collected using self-report questionnaires probing experiences of physical victimization while incarcerated and substance use prior to prison and during the past six months in prison. We found that the rates and likelihood of physical victimization were greater for male inmates who used substances at any time, compared to non-consumers of substances but were highest for male inmates who used exclusively in prison or both prior to and in prison. These findings suggest the need for immediate prevention steps including comprehensive screening and segregation practices; better drug interdiction practices; and more evidence-based substance abuse treatment with and without integrated trauma treatment to ensure public health and safety.

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Previous research has demonstrated that symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are associated with higher levels of victimization, but little is known about protective factors. The purpose of the study was to examine whether physical activity attenuated the associations among ADHD symptoms and physical and relational victimization 1.5 years later. Participants included 168 s through fourth grade students (M age = 8.43; 52.4 % boys) who completed self-reports of physical activity and victimization; teachers provided ratings of ADHD symptoms. ADHD symptoms predicted subsequent increases in physical, but not relational, victimization among children who reported engaging in moderate/high levels of physical activity, especially out of the school context (moderate: ß = .26, p = .03; high: ß = .55, p < .001). Findings suggest that children with ADHD symptoms may benefit from being taught the skills necessary to appropriately engage in physical activity and from being monitored while engaging in activity in order to limit physical victimization that they might experience.

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A three-wave longitudinal study among ethnically diverse preadolescents (N = 597 at Time 1, ages 9-11) was conducted to examine adaptive, maladaptive, mediational, and bidirectional processes of relational and physical aggression, victimization, and peer liking indexed by peer acceptance and friendships. A series of nested structural equation models tested the hypothesized links among these peer-domain factors. It was hypothesized that (1) relational aggression trails both adaptive and maladaptive processes, linking to more peer victimization and more peer liking, whereas physical aggression is maladaptive, resulting in more peer victimization and less peer liking; (2) physical and relational victimization is maladaptive, relating to more aggression and less peer liking; (3) peer liking may be the social context that promotes relational aggression (not physical aggression), whereas peer liking may protect against peer victimization, regardless of its type; and (4) peer liking mediates the link between forms of aggression and forms of peer victimization. Results showed that higher levels of peer liking predicted relative increases in relational aggression (not physical aggression), which in turn led to more peer liking. On the other hand, more peer liking was predictive of relative decreases in relational aggression and relational victimization in transition to the next grade (i.e., fifth grade). In addition, relational victimization predicted relative increases in relational aggression and relative decreases in peer liking. Similarly, physical aggression was consistently and concurrently associated more physical victimization and was marginally predictive of relative increases in physical victimization in transition to the next grade. More peer liking predicted relative decreases in physical victimization, which resulted in lower levels of peer liking. The directionality and magnitude of these paths did not differ between boys and girls.

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