Abstract

• Victimization is commonly recognized as a hostile behavior characterized by a power imbalance and frequent occurrences. In this instance, the victim is the object of persistent targeting; the action is repetitive. The main purpose of this study was to investigate peer victimization and school connectedness of adolescents. Firstly, this study was to validate the Multidimensional Peer Victimization Scale (MPVS) in a sample of adolescents from Basic Education in Myanmar. Furthermore, this study aimed to investigate the difference in peer victimization and school connectedness of adolescents by gender and age. The quantitative study was conducted to explore the peer victimization and school connectedness of adolescents. The sample for this study was chosen from four Basic Education High Schools Located in Kayin State and Yangon Region. A total of 600 adolescents were selected from schools. Multidimension Peer Victimization Scale (MPVS-24) was by Fontaine et al. (2018) and Measurement of School Connectedness (MOSC) was by Sugar (2012) were used. The results of the confirmatory factor analysis indicated that the model fits with two-factor structure model (Chi-Square = 642.131, RMSEA = 0.055, TLI = 0.901, CFI = 0.905, p < 0.001). Moreover, this study confirmed the convergent and discriminant validity of the scale. The internal consistency of scale and subscales were satisfactory results. The results of independent samples t-test revealed that significant differences were found on peer victimization and school connectedness by gender. ANOVA results revealed that significant differences were found on peer victimization and school connectedness by age. The findings revealed that there was a negatively moderate correlation between peer victimization and school connectedness of adolescents. In addition, regression analysis showed that peer victimization is a significant predictor of school connectedness.