Teworthy that there was a surge in the proportion of Internet users in Vietnam from 0.25 of the population in 2000 to 43.9 in 2013 [59]. The popularity and wide usage of the Internet, especially social networking sites such as Facebook, among adolescents in Vietnam without proper supervision and appropriate education may make them subjected to increased risk of being victimised online. The results also reveal that more than a fifth of the sample experienced physical violence perpetrated by their boy/girlfriend. Physical dating violence reported in this sample is five times higher than that reported by Le et al [37] among married 14?5 year-old Vietnamese adolescents. This suggests that intimate partner violence may also be prevalent among adolescents who are unmarried, but in a relationship. Examination of intimate partner violence that is restricted to married adolescents and young adults, therefore, will provide an underestimate of the magnitude of the problem.PLOS ONE | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0125189 May 1,17 /Poly-Victimisation among Vietnamese Adolescents and CorrelatesMost vulnerable PX-478 site groups had distinct individual, familial and community characteristicsThis study found statistically significant differences in demographic characteristics between nonvictims, victims of one to ten forms of victimisation and poly-victims. These characteristics not only pertain to those at the individual level (experience of adverse life events; experience of a chronic SP600125 manufacturer disease or disability), but also the familial level, including family composition (the presence of a step-parent), and the community level, such as school type and rural or urban residence. At the individual level. We found no significant association between boys and girls with regards to the risk of poly-victimisation. This finding is contrary to that observed in Dong et al’s [28] sample of Chinese students aged 12?8 years. Male students in Dong et al’s sample who resided in rural areas were more likely to experience multiple forms of victimisation than their female peers. Despite the similarity in terms of cultures between the two nations, social differences such as economic development, educational attainment and social policy (the onechild policy in China versus the one to two children per family in Vietnam) might have contributed to these contradictory findings. It may be that in China, higher expectation towards boys makes them more vulnerable to be poly-victimised. Another explanation would be the different cut-off points used to determine “poly-victims” in this study and Dong et al’s, which were ten and four, respectively. At the familial level. The presence of a step-parent was an important correlate of poly-victimisation in this sample, even when controlling for other variables. In these families, conflicts between the step-parent, the step-children and the child might contribute to the child’s higher risk of being victimised. This finding is consistent with evidence from another Vietnamese study [60]. Nguyen found that Vietnamese adolescents living in families where parents were divorced or where there was a presence of a step-mother were at higher risks of emotional abuse and neglect. Higher levels of parent-child attachment among families with both parents may have been protective of adolescents against being victimised, compared to families of singleparent or with a step-parent. In this sample, there was also a significant association between adolescents’ risk of being p.Teworthy that there was a surge in the proportion of Internet users in Vietnam from 0.25 of the population in 2000 to 43.9 in 2013 [59]. The popularity and wide usage of the Internet, especially social networking sites such as Facebook, among adolescents in Vietnam without proper supervision and appropriate education may make them subjected to increased risk of being victimised online. The results also reveal that more than a fifth of the sample experienced physical violence perpetrated by their boy/girlfriend. Physical dating violence reported in this sample is five times higher than that reported by Le et al [37] among married 14?5 year-old Vietnamese adolescents. This suggests that intimate partner violence may also be prevalent among adolescents who are unmarried, but in a relationship. Examination of intimate partner violence that is restricted to married adolescents and young adults, therefore, will provide an underestimate of the magnitude of the problem.PLOS ONE | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0125189 May 1,17 /Poly-Victimisation among Vietnamese Adolescents and CorrelatesMost vulnerable groups had distinct individual, familial and community characteristicsThis study found statistically significant differences in demographic characteristics between nonvictims, victims of one to ten forms of victimisation and poly-victims. These characteristics not only pertain to those at the individual level (experience of adverse life events; experience of a chronic disease or disability), but also the familial level, including family composition (the presence of a step-parent), and the community level, such as school type and rural or urban residence. At the individual level. We found no significant association between boys and girls with regards to the risk of poly-victimisation. This finding is contrary to that observed in Dong et al’s [28] sample of Chinese students aged 12?8 years. Male students in Dong et al’s sample who resided in rural areas were more likely to experience multiple forms of victimisation than their female peers. Despite the similarity in terms of cultures between the two nations, social differences such as economic development, educational attainment and social policy (the onechild policy in China versus the one to two children per family in Vietnam) might have contributed to these contradictory findings. It may be that in China, higher expectation towards boys makes them more vulnerable to be poly-victimised. Another explanation would be the different cut-off points used to determine “poly-victims” in this study and Dong et al’s, which were ten and four, respectively. At the familial level. The presence of a step-parent was an important correlate of poly-victimisation in this sample, even when controlling for other variables. In these families, conflicts between the step-parent, the step-children and the child might contribute to the child’s higher risk of being victimised. This finding is consistent with evidence from another Vietnamese study [60]. Nguyen found that Vietnamese adolescents living in families where parents were divorced or where there was a presence of a step-mother were at higher risks of emotional abuse and neglect. Higher levels of parent-child attachment among families with both parents may have been protective of adolescents against being victimised, compared to families of singleparent or with a step-parent. In this sample, there was also a significant association between adolescents’ risk of being p.
