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

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. 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; M age = 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. 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. 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.