Victimization and poly-victimization in a community sample of Mexican adolescents

Abstract

Background: In Mexico, there is a little information about child and youth poly-victimization. Objective: The present study aimed to analyze the prevalence of victimization and poly-victimization in a community sample of Mexican adolescents aged 12–17 years. Participants and settings: The Mexican version of the Juvenile Victimization Questionnaire was applied to 1068 adolescents (504 females and 564 males) at six public schools. Methods: Descriptive analyses were conducted to establish the prevalence of six types of victimizations and poly-victimization. Odds ratios were used to estimate differences between the genders and age groups. Results: Nearly 80% of the adolescents reported at least one experience of victimization during the past year, while 85.5% reported at least one experience of victimization in their lifetime. Conventional crimes (65.6%) and indirect victimization (61%) were the most frequent types of victimization reported. Of the sample, 35.9% were classified as poly-victims in the past year. Girls experienced a broader spectrum of victimization than boys. Specifically, girls experience more caregiver victimization (OR = 1.56, 95% CI=1.21-2.02), sexual victimization (OR = 2.46, 95% CI=1.73-3.50), and electronic victimization (OR = 1.81, 95% CI=1.33-2.47), in their lifetime. Older adolescents experienced more witnessing victimization (OR = 1.48, 95% CI=1.16-1.88) and caregiver victimization (OR = 1.52, 95% CI=1.15-2.00) during the past year. Conclusions: This study is the first to be carried out in Mexico with an instrument that enables cross-cultural comparisons. Our findings highlight the necessity to increase research in this field to improve both intervention programs and public policies to prevent child victimization.