Sexuality in Emerging Adulthood

Abstract Emerging adults’ relationships with parents and other family members are important for their sexuality development. Primarily, research on the roles of family members focuses on parents. Communication with parents, support from parents, and parents’ behaviors have both direct and indirect implications for emerging adults’ sexual values and behaviors. Furthermore, studies show that there are similarities and differences in how parents are influential on emerging adults’ sexuality based on gender, sexual minority status, race and ethnicity, and religious beliefs and practices. Although limited, there is evidence that family members other than parents, such as siblings and extended family, are important for emerging adults’ sexuality, particularly for certain cultural groups. The findings reviewed in this chapter have implications for practitioners working with families. Directions for future research are recommended.