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

The main objective of the study is to examine the relationship between different kinds of peer victimization, gender, and immigrant status in a representative sample of Italian youth. This research used data from a cross-sectional national Italian survey administered to students on “Integration of Second Generations”, which comprised a sample of 68,127 students in grades 6 to 13 (49,2% females; 47% immigrants). We used multinomial logistic regression analyses to examine the association between gender and immigrant status with verbal, physical, and relational victimization, after adjusting for sociodemographic variables. Immigrant students and male participants were more likely to be classified as victimized frequently. The significant interaction effect between gender and immigrant status revealed that male immigrant students were more likely to belong to the frequently relationally victimized category compared to counterparts. Our study highlights the importance of including immigrant status disparities on peer victimization research. Prevention efforts and intervention strategies should be implemented to create safe environments in Italy.