Longitudinal Examination of Victimization Experiences of Latinos (LEVEL): Extending the Bias Victimization Study, San Diego, CA, Galveston, TX, Houston, TX, Boston, MA, 2019-2020 (ICPSR 38228)

Time Period(s) View help for Time Period(s)

Date of Collection View help for Date of Collection

Data Collection Notes View help for Data Collection Notes

Study Purpose View help for Study Purpose

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the past-year incidence and prevalence of bias or hate motivated victimization. Primary research questions included:

• What are the revictimization patterns across the two waves for the various forms of victimization and overall total victimization?
• What factors are associated with victimization of Latino individuals across a range of violent and non-violent crimes? Specifically, how does immigration status, language proficiency, acculturation, and enculturation impact the likelihood that a Latino/a is victimized or revictimized?
• What factors are associated with negative mental health consequences? Specifically, how does immigration status, language proficiency, acculturation, and enculturation impact negative health outcomes for those Latinos who are victims of crime?
• What factors are associated with help-seeking and reporting of victimization to criminal justice agencies? Specifically, how does immigration status, language proficiency, acculturation, and enculturation impact help-seeking and reporting for those Latinos who are victims of crime?

Study Design View help for Study Design

At the end of the Wave 1 survey participants were asked to give consent to a follow up survey. If the participant assented they provided their contact information such as phone numbers and email address. Data collection lasted from October 2019 to July 2020. Surveys were conducted in the participant's preferred language (English or Spanish), and participants were sent unique links to the survey either through text or email. Most participants completed the survey, on average, in about 40 minutes.

Sample View help for Sample

The original sample for Wave 1 was a convenience sample with adult respondents aged 18 or older recruited through community-based agencies and at Latino-focused events. A community-based sample was chosen since it has the ability to recruit harder to reach, more transient, or more vulnerable individuals within the community.

Time Method View help for Time Method

Universe View help for Universe

Latino adults aged 18 or older residing in San Diego, CA, Galveston and Houston, TX, and Boston, MA.

Unit(s) of Observation View help for Unit(s) of Observation

Data Type(s) View help for Data Type(s)

Mode of Data Collection View help for Mode of Data Collection

Description of Variables View help for Description of Variables

The data file consists of 323 cases with 1,525 total variables. The first half of the data file consists of the variables from the questionnaire. Some of the major sections of the questionnaire include:

• Acculturation Rating Scale for Mexican Americans (AR) - speaking, writing, reading, and watching things in English and Spanish
• SAFE Stress Scale (AS) - five-point rating scale of how stressful certain situations are
• Bias Victimization (BV) - asks about 14 total events where person felt they were targeted due to their ethnic or racial background; then there are follow-up questions on who did it, their race and gender; how many times it happened and physical injuries because of incident
• Lifetime Victimization (LV) - asks about 18 total events, some of the events are similar to the other section but these do not include the same bias / racial component; then there are similar follow-up questions about each event answered yes to
• Trauma Symptom Inventory (TS) - four-point frequency subscales from the Trauma Symptom Inventory - 2 (TSI-2) covering topics of depression, anxiety, anger, and dissociation
• Everyday Discrimination Scale (EDDS) - six-point frequency scale of negative interaction with others
• Political Questions (PQ) - knowledge of government and public affairs at local and national level, involvement in voting and other civic activities
• Demographics (DE) - education, income, employment, relationship status, race, sexual orientation, children, and residency status

The last half of the data file includes calculated or recoded variables created by the Principal Investigators. These include intermediate variables that identify bias victimization versus those that identify lifetime victimization. This section of variables also includes the calculated scores for the multiple instruments / scales included in the survey.

Response Rates View help for Response Rates

The overall retention rate from the original sample, Wave 1, to this follow-up study, Wave 2, was 35.5% (323 out of 910). Of those Wave 1 respondents who consented to be re-contacted for Wave 2 that response rate was 47.9%. For each city the number of participants who completed "Wave 2" were:

Presence of Common Scales View help for Presence of Common Scales

• Bias Victimzization Questionnaire for Latinos (BVQ-L)
• Lifetime Trauma and Victimization History (LTVH)
• Brief Acculturation Rating Scale for Mexican-Americans (Brief-ARSMA-II)
• Social, Attitudinal, Familial, and Environmental (SAFE) Stress Scale
• Language Experience and Proficiency Questionnaire (LEAP-Q)
• Trauma Symptom Inventory 2 (TSI-2)

Original Release Date View help for Original Release Date

2023-10-11

Version History View help for Version History

Weight View help for Weight

Not applicable