“The Story Really Stayed with Me”: Emerging Adult College Students’ Stories of Sexual Activity and Intimate Relationships Recalled from Parents, Siblings, and Friends

Young people receive messages about sexual activity and intimate relationships in the form of stories from a variety of interpersonal sources, including parents, siblings, and friends. Grounded in communicated narrative sense-making theory, the current study investigated the narratives that 30 emerging adult college students recalled parents, siblings, and friends sharing with them around sexual activity and intimacy. Thematic narrative analysis revealed four types of stories recalled across these relationships, including vivid experiences, life lessons, safety and support, and morality. Meanings, values, and beliefs illustrated how sexual activity and intimate relationships (a) are common experiences, (b) are for committed and loving partnerships, (c) can have negative consequences, and that (d) stories can be helpful for making sense of relationships. Findings highlight varying functions of sex-related stories across college students’ families and peers, including how stories can (dis)connect them to those who may most foundationally shape their sexual attitudes and activities.