One Hit Makes the Difference: The Role of Polyvictimization in Childhood in Lifetime Revictimization on a Southern European Sample

Objective: To present statistics documenting the scope and the nature of child victimization, polyvictimization, and revictimization and to explore the relationship between victimization in childhood and later revictimization in adulthood. Methods: The sample comprises 975 undergraduates in a cross-sectional, retrospective design. Childhood victimization and lifetime revictimization were assessed using the Traumatic Life Events Questionnaire. Results: 26.59% of participants reported childhood interpersonal victimization and 16.80% reported an interpersonal victimization episode in adulthood. Polyvictimization was reported by 8.30%, whereas 7.50% of the sample suffered child victimization and adult revictimization. Multiple regression showed that child polyvictimization significantly predicted adult revictimization. Conclusions: The results support the idea that polyvictimization in childhood exerts a cumulative effect on interpersonal victimization in adulthood. More importantly, polyvictimization is a key concept to understanding the risk of revictimization, even at low rates.