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Psicothema was founded in Asturias (northern Spain) in 1989, and is published jointly by the Psychology Faculty of the University of Oviedo and the Psychological Association of the Principality of Asturias (Colegio Oficial de Psicólogos del Principado de Asturias).
We currently publish four issues per year, which accounts for some 100 articles annually. We admit work from both the basic and applied research fields, and from all areas of Psychology, all manuscripts being anonymously reviewed prior to publication.

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Verbal, physical, and relational peer victimization: The role of immigrant status and gender

Jessica Pistella1, Emma Baumgartner1, Fiorenzo Laghi1, Marco Salvati1, Nicola Carone2, Fausta Rosati1, and Roberto Baiocco1

1 Sapienza University of Rome, and
2 University of Pavia

Background: Most studies suggest that immigrant youth are more likely to be victimized than their non-immigrant counterparts. In Italy, a country in which the number of foreign migrants has grown exponentially over recent decades, this line of research is particularly interesting. Thus, the main objective of the present study was to examine the relationship between peer victimization, gender, and immigrant status in a large sample of students. Method: The research used data from a cross-sectional Italian survey on the “Integration of Second Generations,” which was administered to 68,127 students in grades 6 through 13 (49% female; 47% immigrant). Multinomial logistic regression analyses were used to examine the association between immigrant status and gender with verbal, physical, and relational victimization, after adjusting for socio-demographic variables. Results: Immigrant and male participants were more likely to be classified as frequently victimized. The significant interaction effect between immigrant status and gender revealed that male immigrant students were more likely to belong to the frequently relationally victimized category compared to their counterparts. Conclusions: The study highlights the importance of including immigrant status disparities in peer victimization research. Prevention efforts and intervention strategies should be implemented to create safe environments in Italy.

Victimización verbal, física y relacional entre pares: el papel del estatus de inmigrante y el género. Antecedentes: la mayoría de estudios sugieren que los jóvenes inmigrantes tienen más probabilidades de ser víctimas que sus homólogos no inmigrantes. En Italia, esta línea de investigación es particularmente interesante debido al crecimiento exponencial de inmigrantes en las últimas décadas. El estudio buscó examinar la relación entre  victimización de pares,  género y estatus de inmigrante en estudiantes. Método: se utilizaron datos de una encuesta  realizada en Italia sobre la “Integración de segundas generaciones”, que se aplicó a 68.127 estudiantes en los grados 6 a 13 (49% mujeres; 47% inmigrantes). Se realizaron análisis de regresión logística multinomial para examinar la asociación entre género y estatus de inmigrante con victimización verbal, física y relacional, luego de ajustar variables sociodemográficas. Resultados: los participantes inmigrantes y de sexo masculino eran más propensos a ser frecuentemente victimizados. El efecto de interacción entre género y estatus de inmigrante reveló que los estudiantes inmigrantes hombres eran más propensos a ser frecuentemente victimizados relacionalmente, en comparación con sus homólogos. Conclusiones: el estudio destaca la importancia de incluir el estatus de inmigrante en la investigación de victimización entre compañeros. Deben implementarse esfuerzos de prevención y estrategias de intervención para crear entornos seguros en Italia.

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Impact factor 2022:  JCR WOS 2022:  FI = 3.6 (Q2);  JCI = 1.21 (Q1) / SCOPUS 2022:  SJR = 1.097;  CiteScore = 6.4 (Q1)