This study examines ethnic differences in the prevalence of bullying victimization by peers as well as the associations between bullying victimization and psychological distress with relevant ecological factors including parental supervision, school support, and community safety. The study utilized the 2011e2012 California Health Interview Survey (CHIS) Adolescents Data, which was collected in the United States using a multi-stage stratified sampling design with a Random Digit-Dial method. The final study sample contained a total of 2367 adolescents, comprised of 48.7% Whites, followed by 35.8% Latinos, 11.1% Asians, and 4.4% African Americans. About 49.3% were males with an overall mean age of 14.6 (sd ¼ 1.7). Results showed that there were significant differences in rates of bullying victimization among the four surveyed ethnic subgroups of adolescents. Black adolescents reported the highest and Asian adolescents the lowest level of victimization. The results of the SEM test using the calibration sample revealed an adequate fit to the data (CFI ¼ 0.95, RMSEA ¼ 0.04, Dc 2 /Ddf ¼ 2.99). Separate model tests with the four subgroups of adolescents revealed good fits with the subsample data with the exception of the subsample of African Americans. Additionally, results show that factors associated with psychological distress vary widely among the White, Latino and Asian subgroups.

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In response to the commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC) within five U.S. cities, the CSEC Community Intervention Project (CCIP) was created to enhance collaboration among nongovernmental organization (NGO) representatives, law enforcement officials and prosecutors in Chicago, Atlantic City, Denver, Washington, D.C., and San Diego. A total of 211 participants were surveyed during a 3-day CCIP training institute held in each city. Evaluation data suggest that participants were positively influenced in their knowledge, skills, and attitudes regarding CSEC. Our findings inform NGO representatives, law enforcement officials, and prosecutors of the importance of professional training and the benefits of cross-disciplinary collaboration in addressing CSEC.

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The psychometric properties of the risk and resiliency checkup (RRC) were examined in a sample of 2,835 youth offenders. Solid evidence for internal consistency and convergent validity were demonstrated by correlations between the RRC subscales and the total scores. Three hypothetical factor models for the RRC were explored: a second-order factor model, a first-order 2-factor model without covariance, and a first-order 2-factor model with covariance. The first-order 2-factor model with covariance of the RRC was selected for further analyses. Recognizing that measurement invariance was rarely tested with risk assessments, this study examined the measurement invariance of the RRC model across three ethnic groups. The data supported configural invariance as well as partial metric invariance. This study presents substantial empirical evidence for the construct validity of the RRC across three ethnic groups. However, the first-order 2-factor model for the RRC indicates that risk and protective factors appear to be different dimensions.

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