Image-based sexual violence among adolescents in multicultural schools: Prevalence, perpetrators, and mental health correlates in Southeast Spain

Abstract

Background: Image-based sexual abuse (IBSA) and unsolicited receipt of sexual images (URSI), sometimes referred to as cyberflashing, are increasingly reported among adolescents, yet evidence from multicultural school settings remains limited. Objective: This study was conducted to examine the prevalence, gender and cultural-origin differences, perpetrator profiles in IBSA-positive cases, and mental health and suicidality correlates of IBSA and URSI among adolescents in Southeast Spain from a digital intersectionality perspective. Participants and Setting: A cross-sectional survey of 2220 students aged 12–17 years from 16 public secondary schools in Almería (Spain) was conducted. Cultural origin was operationalized using father's country of birth as a proxy for familial migration background (Spai n = 1558; Morocco = 662). Methods: Data on IBSA involving one's own images (authentic and manipulated), URSI, perpetrator profiles in IBSA-positive cases, and nine dichotomous indicators of psychological distress and suicidality were collected. Logistic regressions were estimated separately by origin group, adjusting for age and gender. Results: IBSA was reported by 7.4% of Spanish-origin adolescents and 9.7% of Moroccan-origin adolescents. Differences by migration-background proxy were concentrated in the emerging modalities, particularly manipulated sexual images/deepfakes (1.4% vs. 3.5%) and economically motivated dissemination (1.0% vs. 2.4%). URSI affected nearly one-third of the sample (30.6% and 28.2%) and showed a clear gender-based pattern in the Spanish-origin group (girls 35.8% vs. boys 25.6%). In IBSA-positive cases, peers and unknown perpetrators were the most frequently reported; girls were more likely than boys to identify unknown perpetrators (48.2% vs. 28.6%). URSI was consistently associated with higher levels of psychological distress and suicidality indicators across origin groups, while IBSA showed more differentiated associations depending on outcome and group. Conclusion: The findings suggest that image-based sexual violence constitutes a significant and recurrent dimension of adolescents' digital experiences in multicultural school contexts. Its distribution showed patterned differences by gender and migration-background proxy, particularly in specific modalities. Given the cross-sectional design, these findings should be interpreted as associations rather than causal or cumulative effects.