Concern about the possibility of being a victim of extortion and symptoms of anxiety, depression, and stress in Peruvian adults: a model of structural equations.

Introduction: Extortion has become a growing problem for public security in Latin America, especially in Peru, where an increase in the rate of victims of extortion has intensified citizens' fear. Objective: The objective was to explore the relationship between worry about the possibility of being a victim of extortion and symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress. Methods: A cross-sectional explanatory study was conducted with 1222 Peruvian adults (59.25% men; average age = 26.51 years) from the three regions of Peru (coast, mountains, and jungle), selected through intentional non-probabilistic sampling. Participants completed the Concern about Becoming a Victim of Extortion Scale (BECS; 8 items) and the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale (DASS-13). With the data, a structural equation model with the WLSMV estimator was used to test the hypothetical model. Result: The structural model demonstrated an adequate adjustment (CFI = 0.986, TLI = 0.984, RMSEA = 0.067, SRMR = 0.036). In this case, worry about being a victim of extortion showed a large, direct, and significant effect on stress (β=0.553, R²=0.306) and anxiety (β=0.519, R²=0.269). At the same time, it had a moderate, direct, and significant effect on depression (β=0.427, R²=0.182). Conclusion: Concern about the possibility of being a victim of extortion is significantly associated with higher levels of stress, anxiety, and depression in the sample studied. These findings are preliminary and require replication in probabilistic samples before generalizing them to the Peruvian population.