Abstract Background School victimization during adolescence is a multidimensional phenomenon that affects psychological well-being and social development. Understanding its underlying factors is essential for designing effective preventive strategies. Objective This study aims to analyze school victimization in adolescents from a psychosocial perspective, proposing an explanatory model that integrates individual variables (psychological distress, life satisfaction, and resilience) and social variables (community social support). Method The total of participants was 1,687 adolescents (46% male, 54% female) aged 12–17 years (M = 13.65, SD = 1.14), from 13 schools in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Results Psychological distress is positively associated with school victimization, while life satisfaction is negatively associated. Furthermore, community social support and resilience were found to indirectly influence school victimization through life satisfaction and, negatively, through psychological distress. Multigroup analysis revealed differences in victimization dynamics by gender, although the model is invariant. Conclusion The findings highlight the importance of adopting a multidimensional perspective in understanding and addressing school victimization. Promoting resilience and strengthening community social support could reduce the risk of victimization and improve students' psychological well-being. These results have practical implications for the development of comprehensive prevention and intervention strategies in school settings.
Jiménez et al. (Thu,) studied this question.