Although bullying is increasingly researched in the United States, there is limited research on bullying among Mexican youth, so the current study addressed this gap by comparing bullying dynamics across the two countries, with a focus on Latinx youth in the United States and Mexican youth.
Data were collected from a large school-based survey of 3,030 U.S. self-identified as Latinx/Hispanic and Mexican adolescents. The survey utilized the U.S.-derived term for bullying for the definition-based questions, with the definitions and behaviors translated into the local Mexican Spanish dialect. Logistic regression results indicated that the prevalence of youth who bully is similar; however, more Mexican youth reported being a victim, and more U.S. Latinx youth reported witnessing bullying. U.S. Latinx youths' responses to bullying reflect behaviors emphasized in bullying prevention programs; whereas, Mexican youth reported more retaliatory responses. This study informs our understanding of similarities and differences in bullying dynamics across contexts, which is critical to informing intervention development and adaptation to target locally relevant bullying behaviors. 3 tables and 44 references (publisher abstract modified)