CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH VICTIMIZATION IN SPAIN: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW OF EPIDEMIOLOGICAL STUDIES

Abstract

In order to obtain an overall view of the research carried out in Spain on child victimization, we have conducted a systematic review of the publications that provide rates of victimization from the adolescents’ own self-reports. We searched the electronic databases Medline, PsycINFO, SciELO, Scopus and Latindex using terminology related to childhood, victimization and the geographical origin of the study sample. We selected 61 articles, published between 1994 and 2010 in different national journals, most of them assessing peer victimization experiences. The Spanish studies are focused, mainly, on one specific form of victimization affecting children. Different instruments have been used to obtain the data, and they have not been adapted to our social and cultural context. This makes it difficult to determine the incidence of other types of violence in Spanish children and to conduct comparisons with other international studies.

Keywords

• Childhood
• Adolescence
• Epidemiology
• Victimology
• Review.