Emerging Adult Men’s Reports of Sexual Messages and Desired Support From Parents, Friends/Peers, and Online Media in Making Sexual Decisions During College

Introduction: During emerging adulthood, an important developmental period for exploring sexuality and developing sexual identity, men face pressure to be sexually active yet receive limited sexual information. Exploring emerging adult (EA) men’s sexual socialization and their desires for support in making healthy sexual decisions can help identify needs of college-attending men. Method: Using a mixed-methods approach, we examined 2020 data from 49 EA men ages 18–25 regarding the messages they had received about sexuality from mothers, fathers, friends/peers, and online media, and what kinds of support they desire from mothers, fathers, and friends/peers in making healthy sexual decisions in college. Open-ended responses were coded using content analysis. Post hoc Fisher’s exact tests (FETs) explored the relationship between messages received and desired support. Results: We identified eight categories of messages received: pregnancy/STI avoidance, consent, no messages, sex positivity, advice on sex and relationships, how to have sex, smart decision-making, and anatomy/physiology. We identified five categories of desired support: give me advice, do nothing, let’s talk more, support and accept me, and provide for me. FETs showed significant relationships between messages received and desired support. Conclusion: EA men report receiving a variety of sexual messages across their lifetime. The majority desire some form of parental support in making healthy sexual decisions in college, and these desires may be related to previous parental messages about sexuality. Policy implications: Parent education and sex education programming should work to increase EA’s sexual knowledge and decision-making skills and help parents provide support during the transition to adulthood.