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.