Non-consensual sexting among adolescents from ethnocultural minority backgrounds: the role of native peer pressure, self-control, and sexual preoccupation.

BACKGROUND: The non-consensual dissemination of sexually explicit electronic messages (non-consensual sexting) among adolescents from ethnocultural minority backgrounds is a severe form of digital aggression that remains internationally under-researched. METHOD: Integrating Ecological Systems and Social Cognitive theories, the present study examined the prevalence of non-consensual sexting roles (sending, receiving, and forwarding) and the predictive contribution of perceived native peer pressure (i.e., peers from the Greek majority without a migrant background), self-control, and sexual preoccupation. The sample consisted of 293 students (59% self-identified as boys; Mage = 14.9, SD = 0.93) from ethnocultural minority groups, primarily originating from Albania (35.8%), Bulgaria (35.2%), and a consolidated group (29%) of other countries (Russia, Ukraine, Israel, Armenia). Students attended the third grade of randomly selected public junior high schools located in the two largest regions of Greece. RESULTS: Findings revealed that adolescents were predominantly involved in the sending and receiving of non-consensual sexual content, whereas unauthorized forwarding occurred at a significantly lower frequency. Adolescents of Albanian and Bulgarian origin were identified as the most vulnerable subgroups for direct digital involvement. Gender did not emerge as a statistically significant factor in differentiating involvement. Regarding predictive pathways, perceived native peer pressure emerged as the most potent positive predictor, followed by self-control as a secondary protective factor and sexual preoccupation as the weakest positive factor. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, the findings suggest that digital risk in youth from minority backgrounds is driven by the interplay between host-country social integration and internal self-control, necessitating culturally sensitive interventions that target social-integrative motives while bolstering individual protective mechanisms. While these findings provide a specialized perspective on the digital ecology of minority youth, they should be viewed as exploratory regarding the unique influence of ethnocultural background, as the study did not include a native-born comparison group.