Sexual Education as a Dynamic Multisource Process: A Qualitative Examination of Sexual Education Experiences in a Sample of U.S. College Students.

Abstract

Sexual education is important for young people's sexual health. Sexual education comes from a myriad of sources, but most research in this area has examined one source at a time, limiting a holistic understanding of how people learn about sexuality. The current study considered how different sources of information come together to inform a person's sexual education. We conducted qualitative interviews with 44 U.S. college students, with questions about their sexual educational experiences from eight possible sources (i.e., school, caregivers, siblings, extended family, peers, early partners, self-sought sources such as websites and books, and pornography). We analyzed these data using reflexive thematic analysis and generated three main themes. The first theme illustrated the common ways that participants acquired information about sex from four categories of sources over time, including (a) foundational (i.e. parents, schools), (b) secondary (e.g., friends, siblings), (c) self-sought (e.g., websites, books), and (d) incidental (e.g., partners, pornography). Second, participants' engagement with educational sources was informed by their previous experiences with those sources. Finally, the most influential source of participants' sex education was fundamentally linked to their comfort with the source. These findings further demonstrate the necessity of open communication about sexuality and sexual health from sexual educators.