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Lay Abstract: Autistic individuals face a higher risk of various forms of victimization throughout their lives, with bullying being especially prevalent during their school years. Previous studies indicate that autistic children are 2.4 times more likely to be bullied than their typically developing peers and twice as vulnerable as those with other disabilities. However, the extent of this issue among Spanish schoolchildren with autism remains unexplored. In addition, there is no information regarding the presence of bullying victimization in children with marked but undiagnosed autistic traits (i.e. subthreshold autistic traits). This study examines the self-reported prevalence of bullying victimization in autistic pre-adolescents and those with subthreshold autistic traits, comparing them with peers without neurodevelopmental conditions. The study involved 323 participants (11 and 12 years old; 45 with autism or subthreshold autistic traits) from Spanish general education schools. The results revealed a higher rate of bullying victimization among autistic participants (58%; 3.1 times higher risk) and those with subthreshold autistic traits (27%; 1.5 times higher risk) compared with their peers without neurodevelopmental conditions (18.3%). Victimization was linked to more intense restrictive behaviours and increased behavioural and emotional problems. No significant associations were found with other individual or family factors. Our findings underscore the heightened risk of bullying faced by autistic pre-adolescents and those with subthreshold autistic traits at school, emphasizing the need to identify and implement preventive measures to mitigate bullying and its detrimental impact on their mental well-being and overall quality of life., Competing Interests: Declaration of conflicting interestsThe author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship and/or publication of this article.

Persons experiencing homelessness represent one of the principal manifestations of the phenomenon of social exclusion, with homeless women constituting a group in a particularly vulnerable situation. The article analyzed the experience of violence in childhood and adolescence, and its implications in terms of violence experienced as an adult, in a sample of women experiencing homelessness in Madrid (Spain) ( n  = 138). All participants were of legal age and had spent the night before the interview in a shelter or other facility for the homeless, on the street, in public spaces or in places not suitable for sleeping. Information was gathered through a structured interview. The results show that the interviewees had experienced a high percentage of physical, psychological, and/or sexual violence, both in their childhood and adolescence and throughout their lives, with a strong correlation between the experience of violence in childhood and the experience of violence in adulthood, particularly sexual assaults, intimate partner violence, and sex work. The experience of childhood sexual abuse among women experiencing homelessness appears to have had particularly negative consequences in adulthood. Public policies, prevention programs, and care mechanisms with a gendered perspective must be implemented, aimed at reducing the number and intensity of situations of violence experienced by women and girls at risk of social exclusion or in a homeless situation., Competing Interests: Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interests with respect to the authorship and/or publication of this article.

Drug-facilitated sexual assault (DFSA) is a topic of growing social concern in recent years. Despite this, few empirical studies carried out in Spain have analysed the phenomenon from a preventive approach. The aim of this study, in addition to providing new evidence on DFSA, specifically in minors, was to identify possible associated variables, thus contributing to a better understanding of the problem and to the design of more effective prevention policies. To this end, a survey was carried out among minors in the autonomous community of Galicia. A total of 7,181 students aged 12 to 17 (M = 14.79; SD = 1.57) participated. Data collection was carried out by means of a self-administered questionnaire on paper. Data concerning DFSA were collected by means of specific items, piloted beforehand. Screening instruments for problem drug use (AUDIT, CAST, CRAFFT and EUPI-a) were also used. The results allow us to estimate the rate of victimisation by DFSA in Galician minors at 1.7%, of which only 11.4% would have reported it. Beyond the socio-demographic profile of the victims (females in 2 out of 3 cases), they present different patterns with regard to the pattern of problematic consumption of alcohol and other substances and the pattern of problematic use of the Internet and social networks, with a significantly higher prevalence of online risk behaviours. This suggests that this phenomenon goes far beyond sexual violence, so it is necessary to address it at a preventive level from a comprehensive perspective, including educational and public health perspectives.

Objectives: This study aimed to provide epidemiological information on drug-facilitated sexual assault in Spanish youth partying, with a focus on prevalence rates and associated sociodemographic factors., Study Design: Cross-sectional study., Methods: Quota sampling was used to recruit 1601 young people aged 18-35 years in Spain from a digital panel. A validated questionnaire on drug-facilitated sexual assault was used to assess five types of lifetime victimisation experiences while partying. Chi-square and the exact Fisher tests were used to describe the prevalence of victimisation, drug use patterns, and perpetrator profiles. Generalised ordered logistic regression was used to explore factors associated with victimisation, analysed by gender., Results: Half of young women and one-quarter of young men had experienced drug-facilitated sexual assault in their lifetime. Female victimisation due to touching and kissing was notably high, whereas men comprised almost half of the victims of more invasive DFSA experiences involving masturbation, penetration, and oral sex. Opportunism prevailed as the assault tactic, consisting of taking advantage of the victims' incapacity derived from voluntary alcohol use. Among women, risk of victimisation was associated with a lower education level, foreign-born status, and being non-heterosexual. Male victimisation risk was highest among non-heterosexual men., Conclusions: Drug-facilitated sexual violence in youth nightlife contexts is a serious public health issue in Spain, which requires urgent action. Most assaults involve taking advantage of victims who are incapacitated by the effects of voluntary alcohol consumption. This sexual violence primarily affects women with lower educational levels or those who are foreign-born and non-heterosexual men and women., (Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Background: Effective classification of individuals who commit sexual offences is important for their assessment, treatment, and risk management. Victim age has often been used as a distinguishing factor between perpetrators., Objective: This study aimed to analyse the distinctive psychopathological and criminological characteristics of contact sexual offenders with adult and minor victims., Participants and Setting: The study involved 97 adult males who were serving a prison sentence in Spain for at least one contact sexual offence against an adult or a minor., Methods: Researchers gathered data on criminological variables concerning the offender, victim, and modus operandi from prison records and interviews. Participants completed the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory-III (MCMI-III) in a second session, and between-group differences were analysed., Results: Sex offenders with minor victims (SOMV) had significantly lower scores than sex offenders with adult victims (SOAV) on the Antisocial (r = -0.283, p = .005) and Sadistic (r = -0.209, p = .04) personality subscales, and on the Alcohol (r = -0.426, p < .001) and Drug dependence (r = -0.332, p = .001) syndrome subscales. SOAV were also more likely to use violence and/or intimidation, use a weapon, offend against female victims, offend against an intimate partner, commit their offences in public places, serve other ongoing prison sentences, and report a history of alcohol and substance abuse. SOMV were older and more likely to offend against family members., Conclusions: These results suggest that there are key differences between SOAV and SOMV that should be considered in tailored prevention programmes for each subgroup of offenders., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Background and Objective: Human trafficking or contemporary slavery is the recruitment and transfer of people by force or deception for sexual, labour or other types of exploitation. Although the violence, abuse and deprivation that trafficking entails are a threat to the health of its victims, in Spain the clinical or forensic data available in this regard is scarce. At the Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences of Catalonia (IMLCFC), a unit specialized in the forensic assessment of these victims was created. The objective of this work was to describe a series of forensic cases of trafficking victims., Material and Method: Retrospective study of victims in judicial cases opened for an alleged crime of human trafficking registered in the IMLCFC until 06/30/2023., Results: 57 different victims were registered. The majority were women (71.9%). The average age was 30.5 years (s.d. 10.31). All the victims were foreigners, mostly from Latin America (45.5%). The exploitation was mainly sexual (61.4%). There were some sociodemographic differences and in the conditions and consequences of trafficking between victims of sexual exploitation and the rest. Mental health problems were very common in all victims at the time of the assessment (87.5%)., Conclusions: The consequences of trafficking on health, especially mental health, are notable and the forensic assessment of victims is valuable in judicial proceedings. It is necessary to deepen our knowledge of the phenomenon in our environment., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.)

Research on child sexual abuse (CSA) has increased in recent decades. However, the study of gender differences in this field is still scarce. The aim of this study was to analyze the differences in the characterization of CSA between Spanish adult men and women. The Juvenile Victimization Questionnaire was administered to 162 cisgender victims of CSA aged 18-63. Most of the abuses involved physical contact and were committed by a known person. Twenty percent of the victims indicated that they had developed a mental health problem that they believed was due to the CSA experience. Women suffered more CSA with physical contact and penetration, more types of abuse and more abuse by men, and were abused more frequently by a family member. Compared to women, men suffered more sexual abuse by women. Exploring gender differences in CSA could help to improve preventive strategies and interventions aimed at reducing the occurrence of this type of abuse and sequelae resulting from it.

Background: The present study analyzes factors of adolescents' ecological-relational contexts in relation to suicidal behavior. In particular, it examined the role of peer bullying and cyberbullying, classroom climate, violence and partner victimization, parental socialization styles, and child-to-parent violence., Method: The participants are 2,977 Spanish adolescents attending seven secondary schools. They were aged 11-17 (M = 14.0, SD = 1.40; 51.5% girls). Multivariate logistic regression analyses and a two-step cluster analysis were applied to analyze the data., Results: Findings showed a prevalence of suicidal thoughts in 43.3% of the sample, with 7.7% reporting suicide attempts. Adolescents experiencing high/low victimization (ORa = 3.10, p < .001) and high cybervictimization (ORa = 1.67, p < .001) were at risk. However, high cyberbullying involvement (ORa = 0.55, p < .001) and not having a partner (ORa = 0.61, p < .001) emerged as protective factors. Sex-specific analyses underscored distinct interaction effects, with suicidal behavior in girls being significantly related to maternal negative socialization (ORa = 1.57, p = .05)., Conclusions: An ecological-relational and sex approach is needed to understand and prevent suicidal behavior in adolescents.

This study advances on overcoming a bias limiting the forensic cases studies of drug-facilitated sexual assaults: a narrow study focus, restricted to assaults affecting young women in leisure contexts related to nightlife, party culture, and dating. A new working framework is applied to analyse data from cases received in the National Institute of Toxicology and Forensic Sciences (Madrid, Spain) over the six years between 2012 and 2017. The work throws light on non-previously described contexts, experiences, and profiles of victims, including domestic cohabitation, labour, education, healthcare, women trafficking, and the daily life of people with intellectual disabilities., (Copyright © 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Background: Dating Violence (DV) is a public health problem that is on the rise. In this paper, we aim to analyse different factors associated with DV victimization among female and male adolescents in Spain, considering socioeconomic circumstances, sexual orientation and the presence of different attitudes and experiences related to violence., Methods: Cross-sectional data from a convenience sample of 640 ever-partnered adolescents aged 13 to 17 at schools in the cities of Alicante (n = 359, 50.1% girls) and Terrassa (n = 281, 51.9%) in the context of an educational intervention to promote healthy relationships. We calculated the prevalence of different forms of DV (physical, sexual and control and fear) and carried out multivariate regression models by sex., Results: 5.5% of girls and 8.7% of boys declared having suffered lifetime physical and/or sexual violence, while 22% of girls and 20.5% of boys reported control and/or fear victimization. The likelihood of DV was higher among migrants and those with foreign-born parents (aPR girls = 2.1 CI95%: 1.1-3.9; aPR boys = 1.9: CI95%: 1.0-3.6); prior experiences of abuse (aPR girls = 1.6; CI95%: 1.0-2.6; aPR boys = 1.7; CI95%: 1.1-2.6); and those who showed higher levels of machismo (aPR girls = 1.0; CI95%: 1.0-1.1; aPR boys = 1.0; CI95%: 1.0-1.1). In girls, DV increased among those who reported lesbian/bisexual orientation and poor relationship with teachers., Conclusions: DV is socially patterned and increases among LGB adolescents (especially in the case of girls), migrants, and those with foreign-born parents, and adolescents who reported prior experiences of violence in childhood. Future DV prevention programs should consider social inequalities in the likelihood of DV and by reinforcing adolescents' abilities to recognize social support sources and reject machismo and violence., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

This 4-year longitudinal study explored the stability of dating violence (DV) during adolescence and the reciprocal associations between perpetration and victimization over time. Participants were 991 high school students (52.4% females; mean age at baseline = 14.80 years) from Bizkaia (Spain), who completed a measure of DV perpetration and victimization at four measurement points spaced 1 year apart. Findings evidenced stability of teen perpetration and victimization of DV, which appears to increase in late adolescence. Moreover, longitudinal reciprocal influences were demonstrated, but in general, the cross-lagged paths from one's partner's aggression to one's own perpetration and vice versa were lower than the autoregressive paths obtained from stability. The model showed an adequate fit for both females and males, although some paths were significantly higher for the females than for the males. Preventive interventions should consider these findings about stability and longitudinal reciprocal associations of DV during adolescence.

Objective: mental health problems during adolescence lead to increased morbidity and mortality. We intend to test the hypothesis that bullying and addictive substance use is related to negative mood states., Methods: We carried out a cross-sectional study among high school students in Burela (Northern Spain) (n=238). "Negative mood state" was defined as experiencing the following: feeling tired, sad, out of place, bored, hopeless, nervous or lacking sleep. Independent variables were binge drinking, having smoked tobacco or cannabis, and the corresponding perceived risk of using them. The variable bullying was also measured. Poisson regression models with robust variance were estimated, and Prevalence Ratios were obtained., Results: 10.5% [CI 95% (7.2-15.2)] of the students reported suffering negative mood states. Students declaring low perceived risk of cannabis use [PR = 2.6 (1.2-5.5)], having tried this addictive substance at some point [PR = 3.1 (1.1-8.9)] and having suffered bullying [PR = 4.8 (2.4-9.6)] increased the risk of experiencing negative mood states., Conclusion: It would be advisable to design and implement interventions aimed at improving mental health during adolescence which account for the use of addictive substances and being a victim of bullying.

This study has three objectives: to examine whether adolescents who perceive themselves as overweight differ from others in terms of offline victimization at school, cybervictimization, self-esteem, and difficulties relating to peers; to examine the possible effects of offline and cybervictimization on self-esteem and difficulties relating to peers; and to examine the possible moderating role of perceiving oneself as overweight on those effects. Previously validated questionnaires were applied to a sample of 3145 adolescents in Asturias (Spain). Descriptive, inferential, correlational, and structural equation analyses were performed. Adolescents who perceived themselves as overweight reported being victims of both offline victimization and most forms of cybervictimization to a greater extent than those who did not perceive themselves as overweight. They also reported lower self-esteem and more peer difficulties (shyness or social anxiety). In both groups of adolescents, victimization and cybervictimization were correlated with each other, both types of victimization had direct, negative effects on self-esteem, and self-esteem in turn had a direct, negative effect on peer difficulties. Furthermore, offline victimization had a direct, positive effect on peer difficulties. Perceiving oneself as overweight moderated the effect of self-esteem on peer difficulties. In adolescents perceiving themselves as overweight, low self-esteem was a stronger risk factor of peer difficulties than in the rest of the adolescents. With high overall self-esteem there were no significant differences in peer difficulties between the adolescents perceiving themselves as overweight and the rest of the adolescents., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Mobile phones can produce detailed and personalized data to help diagnose, treat, prevent or rehabilitate women who are victims of gender violence. We sent automatic text messages, based on cognitive-behavioural therapy, to female victims of gender violence to assess the feasibility of the medium for mental health intervention. During the 28-day intervention period, each woman received four automatic text messages every day on a pre-established schedule. We evaluated symptoms of depression using the Personal Health Questionnaire-9. The Personal Health Questionnaire-9 decreased from an average of 14.8 at the beginning of the intervention, to 6.1 at the end of the text messaging period. All of the women reported that they liked receiving the messages, they found them useful and they felt that the messages had improved their health. Text messages are acceptable to women users who are recipients of public health and social services. Future research should focus more on the evaluation of the results and on how the specific content and aspects of text messaging improve health outcomes.

Background: Cyberbullying among children and adolescents is a major public health concern. However, research has not yet definitively identified the risk factors associated with cybervictimization. The purpose of this study was to determine the association of cybervictimization with use of social networks, personality traits and parental education in secondary students., Methods: The study population consisted of 765 secondary students (56.5% girls) from Majorca (Spain) who were aged 15.99 years (grade 4). The data were from the 16 secondary school centers that participated in the ITACA Project, a multi-center, cluster randomized controlled trial. Cybervictimization was measured by the Garaigordobil Cybervictimization Scale, and the Big Five Questionnaire for Children was used to assess personality traits., Results: Results showed that 39.9% of the students were cybervictims. Univariate analysis indicated that more girls than boys were cybervictimized (43.1% vs 35.7%). Cybervictims spent more time in social networking sites than non-victims (6 h 30 min vs. 5 h 16 min) and had greater emotional instability (0.16 vs. -0.23) and extraversion (0.11 vs. -0.09) and were less conscientious (- 0.001 vs. 0.20). Multivariable analysis indicated that social networking time was not significantly associated with cybervictimization after controlling for personality traits, but the same personality traits remained significantly associated., Conclusions: Our findings indicate that cyberbullying is a frequent and relevant problem in adolescents. Big Five personality traits are related with cybervictimization. Possible ways to design interventions include promoting social leisure activities, encourage responsible attitudes and provide stress coping tools.

This article uses data from the 2015 Spanish Survey on Violence Against Women, a nationally representative survey of 10,171 women aged 16 or above, to analyze the relationship between the severity of intimate partner violence and formal and informal help-seeking strategies, the link between the severity of abuse and the reasons for not seeking formal help, and the influence of social reactions to violence disclosure on the process of leaving a violent relationship. The results show that in Spain, many abused women disclose violence and seek help. However, the severity of the violence strongly determines their help-seeking strategies, especially the search for formal help. Women who experienced less severe incidents tended to minimize their importance and did not seek formal help. For informal help, the differences were smaller, and a high proportion of women talked about the abuse with someone within their social environment, regardless of the severity of the suffered violence. A supportive reaction to violence disclosure had a strong and positive influence on the process of leaving the abusive relationship. The implications of these findings for the design of public policies, education, and awareness-raising campaigns are discussed.

In Spain, a country of great cultural diversity, there is an increasing demand for psychosocial care for victims of gender-based violence. The objective is to describe the psychosocial profile of these women residing in the Autonomous Community of Galicia. In a sample ( n  = 40) of victims of intimate partner violence, it was found a high incidence of PTSD, depression, and low self-esteem associated with greater severity of PTSD and depression. A prolonged relationship increases the types of violence experienced, which is associated with particular psychosocial conditions that are analyzed quanti-qualitatively in order to recommend interventions consistent with the problems detected.

Violence in dating relationships constitutes a serious problem, thus, the study of related factors could help to better understand this violence and intervene in it. This study had three goals: (1) To analyze the prevalence of dating violence in adolescents under residential care settings according to sex and age; (2) to explore the relationships between victimization and perpetration in adolescents' dating violence, sexist attitudes and clinical variables; and (3) to identify variables associated to adolescents' dating violence (victimization and perpetration). The sample comprised 271 adolescents (54.6% boys and 45.4% girls), aged between 12 and 17 years (M = 15.23, SD = 1.60). The victimization (R2 = .17, p <.001) and perpetration (R2 = .20. p < .001) results showed prevalence rates higher than those of previous studies. Sex was not a differentiating factor for perpetration of dating violence, but age was: the older they were, the higher the perpetration rate. In the case of victimization, an interaction between sex and age was found. Results showed that age, sex, hostile sexism and depression were variables associated to victimization whereas age, hostile sexism and depression were associated to perpetration of dating violence.

One of the current trends in homicide research includes developing works based on scientific study and empirical evidence, which offer conclusions that can be used in an operational manner during police investigations. The objective of this study was to identify homicide characteristics from behaviors carried out on the crime scene and victim characteristics associated with those of the perpetrators of these crimes in Spain. The sample consisted of 448 homicide cases from the database of the Homicide Revision Project led by the Office of Coordination and Studies of the Secretary of State and Security. After creating six classification tree models, it was found that the modus operandi of the aggressor and the victim characteristics may permit hypothesizing about the demographic characteristics of the perpetrator (gender, age, and country of origin), his/her criminal record, and the type of relationship with the victim. Furthermore, the importance of the study of victimology during a criminal investigation is highlighted, as it may indirectly offer information about the potential perpetrator. The findings of this study suggest that criminal profiling contributes notably to the decision-making process to establish more rigorous suspect prioritization, improve the management of human resources and materials, and increase the efficiency of criminal investigations.

The differential characteristics of gifted students can make them vulnerable to cyberbullying. There is very little empirical evidence about cyberbullying and giftedness. In the Spanish context, it is unexplored. The main goal of this work is to determine the prevalence of cyberbullying, its distribution in the different roles, and its relationship with other psychological variables. A cross-sectional study was performed with 255 gifted students (M = 11.88 years, SD = 2.28 years) in Spain (155 males, 60.8%). We used the cyberbullying test and the Spanish versions of the DASS-21, ISEL, KIDSCREEN-10, and the SWLS. The results indicate that 25.1% of the students are pure-cybervictims, 3.9% pure-cyberbullies, and 6.6% cyberbully-victims. Pure-cybervictims and cyberbully-victims present worse scores ( p < 0.001) in health-related quality of life, depression, life satisfaction and stress than the uninvolved individuals. The results suggest that the gifted sample presents more cybervictimization and less cyberbullying than observed in other studies of the general population.

This study explores the psychometric properties of the Cyberbullying Triangulation Questionnaire (CTQ), which measures and triangulates the roles of cybervictimization, cyberaggression, and cyberbystanding. The study sample was composed of 5,036 Spanish students with a mean age of 14.19 years (SD = ±1.7; range = 10-23 years). Confirmatory factor analysis of the three correlated-factor model yielded a high goodness of fit. Reliability as measured by Omega coefficients was adequate (>0.94). The measurement model was invariant for the two age groups (10-14 years and 15-23 years). Cybervictimization and cyberaggression correlated with offline victimization and aggression (r = 0.49; p < 0.001; r = 0.57; p < 0.001, respectively). The results show that the most prevalent cyberbystanding subrole was that of the Defender of the Victim (54.6%), and that cyberaggression and cyberbystanding were more prevalent among male adolescents (p < 0.001). The lack of parental control over children's use of the mobile phone was associated with cyberaggression (p < 0.001)., (© 2019 Scandinavian Psychological Associations and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Bullying and cyberbullying pose a serious problem in our schools. Despite this research area's increasing relevance, most research into cyberbullying in the present day has focused only on adolescents. However, given the long-lasting effects of victimization, it is necessary to understand its prevalence throughout the different educational stages of students. This study aims to clarify the prevalence of bullying and cyberbullying among students in the 5th and 6th grades. A sample of 1,993 (Mage = 10.68, SD = 0.71; range 9-13) students completed the "Cyberbullying: Screening of Peer-Harassment" test. The results reveal that 20.3% (n = 404) were pure victims, 6.1% (n = 121) pure bullies, 23.9% (n = 476) bully-victims, and 28.9% (n = 575) pure bystanders of bullying. With respect to cyberbullying, 13.4% (n = 267) were pure cybervictims, 0.7% (n = 13) pure cyberbullies, 3.1% cyberbully-victims (n = 62), and 25.6% (n = 510) pure cyberbystanders. In addition, the results reveal that verbal aggression and offensive or insulting messages were the most prevalent forms of aggression in bullying and cyberbullying, respectively. 36.6% of the sample had suffered verbal aggression and 8.4% had received offending or insulting messages. These data show that bullying and cyberbullying are considerably prevalent in this educational stage.

Sexual coercion is a worldwide health problem that endangers the well-being of those involved. In the same line of the most recent and comprehensive studies, this study sought to investigate the extent of sexual coercion, both perpetration and victimization, among male and female adolescents. Moreover, it jointly analyzed the predictive power of different variables that have been considered as useful to design preventive programs. For this purpose, a cross-sectional study, using proportional stratified cluster sampling, was performed and 1,242 Spanish adolescents (15-19 years old) were surveyed. Results show that both genders had reported committing and suffering sexual coercion. However, perpetration was reported more often by males: no significant gender difference was found in victimization. It was also concluded that need for control and power, normative beliefs about sexual coercion, hostile sexism, negative alcohol expectancies, and sociosexual orientation were significant predictors of perpetration for both genders. Concerning victimization, need for control and power and normative beliefs were found to be significant predictors for males and females, as were negative alcohol expectancies and sexual esteem, though only for males. According to these results, both genders can be both perpetrators and victims of sexual coercion in adolescence, but not to the same extent. Moreover, preventive programs should include activities related to perpetration and victimization, taking into account the effectiveness of their components to intervene with male and female adolescents.

The purpose of the study was to analyze the psychometric properties of the Cyberbullying Test. The sample included 3,026 participants from the Basque Country (northern Spain), aged 12 to 18 years. Results confirmed high internal consistency and moderate temporal stability. Exploratory factor analysis yielded three moderately correlated factors (cyberobserver, cyberaggressor, and cybervictim). Confirmatory factor analysis ratified adequate model fit of the three factors. Convergent and discriminant validity were confirmed: (a) cybervictims use a variety of conflict resolution strategies, scoring high in neuroticism, openness, antisocial behavior, emotional attention, school-academic problems, shyness-withdrawal, psychopathological disorders, anxiety, and psychosomatic complaints, and low in agreeableness, responsibility, self-esteem, and social adjustment and (b) cyberaggressors use many aggressive conflict resolution strategies, scoring high in neuroticism, antisocial behavior, school-academic problems, psychopathological and psychosomatic disorders, and low in empathy, agreeableness, responsibility, emotion regulation, and social adjustment. The study confirms the test's reliability and validity.

Multiple victimization, or polyvictimization, is closely related to delinquency and crime, although few studies have studied these experiences in juvenile offenders. Therefore, the aim of this study is to present victimization rates in young offenders from a Southwestern European country. The sample consisted of 101 youth aged between 14 and 17 years, who were mainly recruited from detention centers (77.2%). From a lifetime perspective, the majority had suffered a criminal offense against the person (93.1%), exposure to community violence (95.0%), and peer victimization (86.1%). Prevalence rates for direct and indirect family violence were also high (63.4% and 43.6%). Electronic victimization reached a rate of 40.6% and sexual victimization of 15.8%. Past year experiences showed lower but similar patterns. Based on a community population criterion to define polyvictimization, 65.3% of the sample were considered lifetime polyvictims, while 41.6% were defined as past year polyvictims. Interventions to address multiple, concurrent forms of exposure to violence should be implemented in the justice system as polyvictimization has been revealed as a frequent reality in young offenders, which may result in antisocial behavior.

This study focuses on sexual violence experiences suffered by Spanish transgender individuals throughout the life span. Using a cross-sectional design, 33 face-to-face semi-structured interviews were conducted which included questions regarding the presence and/or absence of sexual violence, the nature of said sexual violence, by whom sexual violences were committed, coping mechanisms used, and certain mental health indicators. Results found a high percentage of transgender individuals to have been victims of sexual violence during childhood, to use avoidance as a coping mechanism for said experiences, as well as the frequent recurrence of experiences of sexual violence, showing victimization processes. In addition, the relationship between said experiences and mental health indicators were observed. This study highlights the importance of and need for addressing sexual violence among this population, and discusses and analyzes possible components of future educative and clinical intervention strategies.

Accurate assessment of dating violence (DV) is crucial for evaluation and intervention planning. However, extant self-report measurement tools of DV do not adequately consider age-, generation-, and culture-specific issues, which are essential for its accurate conceptualization. To address these gaps, we developed the Violence in Adolescents' Dating Relationships Inventory (VADRI) and evaluated its psychometric properties. The VADRI was developed based on a qualitative approach for item development through adolescents' individual interviews, focus groups, and experts' judgments, followed by a quantitative approach for tool assessment. Two aspects of DV were addressed: victimization and perpetration. After the necessary cultural and linguistic adaptation of items, the instrument was administered to 466 adolescents from three Spanish-speaking countries: Guatemala, Mexico, and Spain. The items were best represented by a one-factor solution in each country, which suggests that DV is a unidimensional construct combining victimization and perpetration. Analyses of item-level factor weights and differential item functioning were conducted aimed at obtaining information about items that best represented the construct, resulting in a 26-item final version that was cross-culturally equivalent. Convergent validity was supported by positive correlations with the Conflict in Adolescent Dating Relationships Inventory, and reliability analyses yielded favorable results (with all Cronbach's α values above .90). We conclude that the VADRI is a valid and reliable instrument for the assessment of DV in various cultural contexts.

Objective: To describe the frequency of the use of alcohol and other drugs, as well as different types of victimization in men deprived of liberty in the prisons of Castile-La Mancha (Spain)., Material and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in a sample of men deprived of liberty in four prisons in Castile-La Mancha. An anonymous questionnaire on victimization was distributed among a total of 425 prisoners, with a confidence interval of 95%., Results: The most commonly reported assaults were verbal, affecting 41.4% of the prisoners (n=176) and the least common were sexual, affecting 7.8% (n=33). The most commonly consumed substance was cannabis, with 40.2% (n=171) of prisoners consuming it in the previous month., Conclusions: Victimization and substance use is a reality in prisons, and there is a statistically significant association between the two phenomena. This association should be further studied to design preventive measures and improve prison life., (Copyright © 2014 SESPAS. Published by Elsevier Espana. All rights reserved.)

This study explored the prevalence of a history as victims of abuse among patients who sought outpatient treatment for drug addiction. A sample of 252 addicted patients was assessed. Information was collected on the patients' lifetime history of abuse (psychological, physical, and/or sexual abuse), sociodemographic factors, consumption factors, psychopathological factors, and personality variables. Drug-addicted patients who present a lifelong history of abuse were compared with patients who were not abused. Of the total sample, 46% of the patients (n = 115) who were addicted to drugs had been victims of abuse. There was a statistically significant difference between the victimization rates of men (37.8%) and women (79.6%). Moreover, for some variables, significant differences were observed between patients who had been abused and those who had not. Compared with patients who had not been abused, the addicted patients with a history of victimization scored significantly higher on several European Addiction Severity Index, Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory-II, and maladjustment variables but not on the Symptom Checklist-90-Revised. The current results indicate that patients who present a lifelong history of abuse exhibit both a more severe addiction than patients who were not abused and several comorbidities. The implications of these results for further research and clinical practice are discussed., (© The Author(s) 2014.)

Data are presented on young people's sexual victimisation and perpetration from 10 European countries (Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Greece, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia and Spain) using a shared measurement tool (N = 3480 participants, aged between 18 and 27 years). Between 19.7 and 52.2% of female and between 10.1 and 55.8% of male respondents reported having experienced at least one incident of sexual victimisation since the age of consent. In two countries, victimisation rates were significantly higher for men than for women. Between 5.5 and 48.7% of male and 2.6 and 14.8% of female participants reported having engaged in a least one act of sexual aggression perpetration, with higher rates for men than for women in all countries. Victimisation rates correlated negatively with sexual assertiveness and positively with alcohol use in sexual encounters. Perpetration rates correlated positively with attitudes condoning physical dating violence and with alcohol use in men, and negatively with sexual assertiveness in women. At the country level, lower gender equality in economic power and in the work domain was related to higher male perpetration rates. Lower gender equality in political power and higher sexual assertiveness in women relative to men were linked to higher male victimisation rates.

This study explored the prevalence of violent and/or criminal behaviors in drug-addicted patients. A sample of 252 drug-addicted patients who sought treatment was assessed. Information was collected on violent behaviors, criminal acts, socio-demographic factors, consumption factors, psychopathological factors, and personality variables. The sample was divided into 4 groups according to the presence of violence and/or criminal behaviors. There were significant differences between the groups on some variables. In general, patients associated with both violence and criminal behaviors showed a greater severity in drug consumption and maladjustment variables, as well as a higher rate of treatment dropout and re-entry.

The cumulative effect of lifetime interpersonal victimization experiences (e.g., child maltreatment, sexual victimizations, conventional crime, witnessing indirect victimization, peer and sibling victimizations) on posttraumatic stress (PTS) symptoms is an important topic in the scientific literature. The objectives of the present study were: (a) to analyze the relationship between lifetime interpersonal victimizations and PTS symptoms, (b) to determine the most prevalent specific PTS symptoms among poly-victimized adolescents, and (c) to establish the time-based effect of interpersonal victimization experiences that occurred in the last year versus those that occurred years before on current level of PTS symptoms. Gender differences were taken into account for each of these objectives. Participants were 823 Spanish adolescents (63% girls and 37% boys) between 14 and 18 years of age recruited from May 2010 to November 2011 from schools in Barcelona, Spain. The majority (87.6%) was of Spanish nationality. The results highlighted the cumulative effect of interpersonal victimizations on PTS symptoms. Among poly-victims adolescents, the most prevalent PTS symptom was intrusive thoughts, but some differences were observed according to gender. The time-based effect of interpersonal victimizations showed a different pattern for girls and boys. For girls, the victimizing events occurring in past years had more explanatory power of the current PTS symptoms than those that occurred more recently. In boys, the interpersonal victimizing events occurring in the last year had the greater explanatory power. These results may have clinical and therapeutic value., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Most research into adolescent victimization and polyvictimization has been carried out in the United States and in northern European countries. The present study aims to determine the prevalence of victimization and polyvictimization in a community sample of Spanish adolescents. The sample consisted of 1,107 youth (M=14.52, SD=1.76), 590 males and 517 females, randomly recruited from 7 secondary schools in a north-eastern region in Spain. The Spanish version of the Juvenile Victimization Questionnaire was applied, assessing 6 aggregate categories of childhood victimization (conventional crimes, caregiver, peer and sibling, witnessed and indirect, sexual, and electronic victimization). A total of 83% of adolescents reported at least 1 type of victimization during their lives, and 68.6% during the last year. Boys were generally more exposed to conventional crimes (68.0%), and girls to emotional abuse by caregivers (23.0%) and to sexual (13.9%) and electronic (17.6%) victimization during their lifetime. Age differences obtained in victimization rates for the past year confirmed that peer and sibling victimization peak in early adolescence (33.9%). Witnessing community violence was more frequent in older adolescents (34.7%). Almost 20% of the sample was considered as polyvictims (i.e., experienced 4 [corrected] or more forms of victimization). Adolescent polyvictims experienced victimization in 4 or more domains during their lifetime. This study adds new information on the epidemiology of victimization in the international context and is the first to do so from the perspective of a country in south-western Europe. It illustrates that Spanish youth experience a higher level of victimization than official records suggest, and that gender and age should be taken into account when analyzing this complex area of study., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Objective: To present statistics documenting the scope and the nature of child victimization, polyvictimization, and revictimization and to explore the relationship between victimization in childhood and later revictimization in adulthood., Methods: The sample comprises 975 undergraduates in a cross-sectional, retrospective design. Childhood victimization and lifetime revictimization were assessed using the Traumatic Life Events Questionnaire., Results: 26.59% of participants reported childhood interpersonal victimization and 16.80% reported an interpersonal victimization episode in adulthood. Polyvictimization was reported by 8.30%, whereas 7.50% of the sample suffered child victimization and adult revictimization. Multiple regression showed that child polyvictimization significantly predicted adult revictimization., Conclusions: The results support the idea that polyvictimization in childhood exerts a cumulative effect on interpersonal victimization in adulthood. More importantly, polyvictimization is a key concept to understanding the risk of revictimization, even at low rates.

Improving interventions with victims and offenders with disabilities requires analysis of the degree of prevalence of crimes in which these people are involved. For this purpose, data regarding interventions made by the Spanish Civil Guard between 2008 and 2010, in which 2099 people had some kind of disability, have been collected and analyzed, with particular regard to criminal offenses (felonies and/or misdemeanors). In this study, the relationship between the types of disability a person has and other variables like their connection to the incident, their gender, age, the relationship between victim and perpetrator, and the time and place of the events were all taken into consideration. The results show that most of the victims with disabilities served by the Spanish Civil Guard were male. The interventions were mainly aid and rescues. Criminal offenses were only 20% of the events., (Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Workplace bullying is defined as negative behaviors directed at organizational members or their work context that occur regularly and repeatedly over a period of time. Employees' perceptions of psychosocial safety climate, workplace bullying victimization, and workplace bullying perpetration were assessed within a sample of nearly 5,000 workers. Linear and nonlinear approaches were applied in order to model both continuous and sudden changes in workplace bullying. More specifically, the present study examines whether a nonlinear dynamical systems model (i.e., a cusp catastrophe model) is superior to the linear combination of variables for predicting the effect of psychosocial safety climate and workplace bullying victimization on workplace bullying perpetration. According to the AICc, and BIC indices, the linear regression model fits the data better than the cusp catastrophe model. The study concludes that some phenomena, especially unhealthy behaviors at work (like workplace bullying), may be better studied using linear approaches as opposed to nonlinear dynamical systems models. This can be explained through the healthy variability hypothesis, which argues that positive organizational behavior is likely to present nonlinear behavior, while a decrease in such variability may indicate the occurrence of negative behaviors at work.

Underreporting of intimate partner aggression is an important issue in the interpretation of self-reports of such aggression, especially by males. However, both males and females are less likely to report negative behaviors about themselves than about their partners. With 863 adolescents from Madrid, social desirability had a small but significant association with reports of dating aggression, but covariance corrections for social desirability did not alter the conclusions about such aggression. Using uncorrected or corrected means for social desirability, males engage in more sexual aggression against their partners and females engage in more psychological and physical aggression. Maximal dyadic reports based on reports by either self or partner significantly increased the rates of aggression, although conclusions about perpetration and victimization did not differ with this correction. Rates of aggression dropped roughly half when corrected for aggression in a joking context, but more females still reported engaging in physical aggression against their partners. The corrections one wishes to use depend upon the sample under study-i.e., adolescent versus adult populations-and one's research or clinical question, but the use of social desirability controls seems ill-founded. Finally, there is a need for in-depth interviews with both partners in dating relationships to determine more about the contextual factors associated with dating aggression and to assist in knowing what correction factors seem most valid.

The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of bullying in its various forms from the perspective of all of the individuals involved (victims, bullies, and witnesses) and to explore its distribution as a function of gender. The study had a correlational design and used a representative sample of 1500 Spanish students attending compulsory secondary education in the academic year 2007-2008. It applied an instrument measuring different types of bullying, taken from the studies conducted by Díaz-Aguado, Martínez, and Martín (2004) and the Defensor del Pueblo (Spanish Ombudsman's Office)-UNICEF (2007). The findings reveal that all the types of bullying considered take place at school and that there is an inverse relationship between the severity and the prevalence of bullying behaviors, with verbal abuse proving to be the most common type of abusive behavior. Boys are involved in all kinds of bullying incidents as bullies significantly more often than girls are, except in cases involving 'talking about someone behind their back'; in these situations, girls are involved significantly more often as bullies than boys are. As for victimization, boys are victims of direct physical abuse significantly more often than girls are, while girls are more often the subject of malicious gossip.

This study aims to provide data regarding the association between reported degree of victimization and suicidal phenomena, with special emphasis on gender differences. There were 923 adolescents recruited from eight secondary schools in Catalonia, Spain. The Youth Self-Report (YSR) and the Juvenile Victimization Questionnaire (JVQ) were used to assess suicidal phenomena and victimization, respectively. Participants were divided into three groups (nonvictim, victim, and polyvictim groups) according to the total number of different kinds of victimization reported. Results showed that the polyvictim group reported significantly more suicidal phenomena than did the victim and nonvictim groups in both boys and girls. Furthermore, although no gender differences in reported suicidal phenomena were found in the nonvictim group, girls reported significantly more suicidal phenomena in both the victim and the polyvictim groups. In conclusion, the results suggest that victimization may play an important role in generating gender differences with respect to reported suicidal phenomena. In addition, this study highlights the importance of taking into account the whole range of victimizations suffered by adolescents when seeking to design suicide prevention and intervention policies.

Sexual revictimization is frequent among victims of child sexual abuse. Several variables, such as sexual experience, substance abuse, and sexual assertiveness, have been proposed to explain the link between child sexual abuse and adolescent and adult sexual victimization, although they have typically been tested separately. The main objective of this study was to analyze which of these variables better explains the revictimization phenomenon using a multiple mediation analysis. The study also tested the frequency of sexual victimization experiences in a Spanish sample of college women. Four hundred and two women were interviewed. Results showed that 30.4% of them engaged in undesired sexual contact while almost 4% were victims of rape. The most frequent perpetrators were partners or ex-partners, acquaintances, or dating partners, but not strangers. Finally, the relationship between child sexual abuse and adolescent and adult sexual victimization was mediated by number of consensual sexual partners and sexual assertiveness. Results reflect some cultural differences from previous research.

This study aims to provide evidence concerning the effects of experiencing multiple forms of victimization (poly-victimization) on self-esteem and post-traumatic stress symptoms in Spanish adolescents. A total of 722 adolescents were recruited from seven secondary schools in Catalonia, Spain. The Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, the Youth Self Report and the Juvenile Victimization Questionnaire were employed to assess self-esteem, post-traumatic stress symptoms and victimization, respectively. Participants were divided into three groups (non-victim, victim and poly-victim groups) according to the total number of different kinds of victimization experienced. Results showed that 88.4 % of adolescents had been exposed to at least one kind of victimization. Poly-victimization was associated with a higher number of post-traumatic stress symptoms in both boys and girls. Also, self-liking was significantly lower in the poly-victim group, whereas self-competence was equivalent across the three victimization groups. Girls were approximately twice as likely to report child maltreatment (OR = 1.92) and sexual victimization (OR = 2.41) as boys. In conclusion, the present study adds evidence on the importance of taking account of the full burden of victimizations suffered when studying victimization correlates. Also, it highlights the importance of prevention policies to focus particularly on preserving adolescents' sense of social worth.

Purpose: To assess the association between gender-based violence and DSM-IV Axis I disorders in female college students., Methods: A stratified random sample of 1,043 college women (average age 22.2 years) participated in the study. We collected sociodemographic, socioeconomic and academic information as well as information on the participants' experience of gender-based violence victimization. The presence of mental disorders during the 12 months preceding the study was assessed by clinically trained interviewers applying the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis I disorders-Clinician Version (SCID-CV)., Results: 15.2% of the participants reported lifetime gender-based violence victimization. Almost two-thirds of the victims had suffered some Axis I disorder during the past year, a significantly larger proportion than among non-victims (OR = 3.72; 95% CI 2.61-5.30). Mood disorders and anxiety disorders were both significantly more common among victims than non-victims (OR = 4.26; 95% CI 2.81-6.46 and OR = 1.97; 95% CI 1.20-3.24, respectively). The most prevalent individual disorder among victims was major depressive disorder (26.41%). Among victims of purely psychological violence, the overall rate of Axis I disorder was similar to the rate among other victims (67 and 61%, respectively)., Conclusions: Among female university students, the experience of physical or psychological gender-based violence is associated with mental disorder. These findings suggest the need for treatment and prevention interventions designed specifically for this population.

Objectives: The purpose of the study was to examine three aspects of romantic relationships of Spanish adolescents: the prevalence of verbal-emotional and physical aggressive behaviors, correlates of dating violence perpetration (both verbal-emotional and physical aggression), and consequences of violence for victims' well-being., Method: A convenience sample of 567 participants (15-19 years old) who voluntarily completed anonymous, self-report questionnaires was used. All were students from 5 public high schools in Salamanca, Spain., Results: Females reported having perpetrated significantly more aggressive acts in their intimate relationships than males did, although the magnitude of differences between both groups was small; in contrast, no sex differences were noted in the frequency of aggressions suffered by adolescents. A strong relationship was observed between the perpetration and victimization of both verbal-emotional and physical aggression across genders. A strong link was observed between jealousy and aggression perpetration (both verbal-emotional and physical). Finally, verbal-emotional aggression represented the most common form of aggressive behavior used at these ages, and relationship deterioration was the most frequent consequence of arguments., Conclusions: These results demonstrate that the use of abusive behaviors in adolescent dating relationships is prevalent in Spain. Sex differences were evident in the perpetration of aggression, as well as some of the motivations for, and the effects of, dating violence., Practice Implications: The present study underlines the need for early intervention programs aimed at decreasing any tolerance for the use of violence in dating relationships of Spanish adolescents. Such programs should include both victimization-based and perpetration-based activities, since the evidence on the relatively mutual nature of dating violence in adolescence points in this direction., (Copyright (c) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Multiple victimization in adolescence is an issue that has received little research attention. Furthermore, adolescents are particularly vulnerable to victimization in different contexts. The aim of this study is to analyze correlates of multiple victimization in three contexts (home, school, and street). The following forms of victimization were considered: stealing, hitting, insulting, threatening, blackmailing, and weapon intimidation. Multiple victimization correlates explored were: sex, age, public/private school, socioeconomic status, quality of family relationships, and antisocial behavior. A probabilistic sample of 1,908 adolescents (ages 13 to 18) was used. Multilevel analyses were conducted to separate correlates at the individual level from those operating at the contextual level. Results show that gender, quality of family relationships, and deviant behavior were related to multiple victimization in adolescence.

This study analyzes the role of adolescents' self-esteem, loneliness, sociometric status, and perceptions of family and classroom environment on overt vicitimization by peers in a sample of 1319 Spanish adolescents (48% boys and 52% girls), ages 11 to 16 years (M=13.7, SD=1.5). The findings from structural equation modeling suggest that adolescents' self-esteem, loneliness, and sociometric status had a significant direct effect on overt victimization by peers, and adolescents' perceptions of family and classroom environment had a significant indirect effect on peer overt victimization mediated by self-esteem, loneliness, and sociometric status. The findings are discussed with the consideration of these variables as individual and social risk factors for overt victimization by peers.

Purpose: To determine the change in prevalence of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms in victims of the March 11 attacks and their relatives, 1 and 6 months after the attacks., Subjects and Methods: Evaluation of PTSD symptoms using the Davidson Trauma Scale (DTS) and General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) in a sample of 56 patients admitted to an emergency room of a general hospital, and assessment of PTSD symptoms in relatives of the patients., Results: At Month 1, 41.1% of patients (31.3% of males and 54.2% of females) presented with PTSD. At Month 6, this figure was 40.9% (30.4% of males and 52.4% of females). There was a significant improvement in perception of health among females between Month 1 and Month 6. Relatives presented similar DTS scores at baseline and at 6 months., Discussion: We verified that rates of PTSD did not vary substantively between the two evaluations. PTSD symptoms positively correlated with psychological health involvement. This correlation points out that both PTSD symptoms and subjective general health involvement are part of the psychological response to trauma., Conclusion: The prevalence of PTSD symptoms was high and remained stable between Month 1 and Month 6, while subjective perception of health improved significantly.