Peer Violence Poly-victimization in Youth and Associations to Psychosomatic Symptoms — A Latent Class AnalysisPeer Violence Poly-victimization in Youth and Associations to Psychosomatic Symptoms — A Latent Class AnalysisDahlqvist et al.

Peer victimization is a common and complex issue among young people worldwide and is affecting mental health development during a critical developmental period in their lives. By means of a Latent Class Analysis (LCA), this study explores peer poly-victimization subgroups among adolescents and their association with psychosomatic symptoms. A sample of 1536 Swedish students in grades 7–9 completed an electronic questionnaire on various types of victimization over the past six months, including physical violence, as well as in-person and cyber sexual harassment and bullying. The LCA identified three subgroups for boys and four for girls, revealing a gendered pattern of victimization, especially in the case of sexualized violence, which was more prevalent among girls. In girls, this type of violence also increased with age. Victimization was strongly associated with psychosomatic symptoms across genders, with sexualized violence having more severe health consequences. The findings emphasize the need for preventive programs that avoids siloed interventions and instead targets multiple forms of violence, including online harassment, to promote adolescent mental health.