Study shows lasting impact of limited sex education on adult relationships

A recent study conducted by the Kinsey Institute reveals the long-lasting impacts of gaps in sex education on adults, leading to relationship struggles, lack of confidence, and reduced quality of life.

The study surveyed 3,895 single adults in the U.S. across a wide age range and found that a significant portion of participants never received information on crucial topics such as healthy relationships, consent, communication with partners, pleasure, or dating during their formative years from any source, including school, family, friends, or elsewhere.

Furthermore, the study highlighted that only a minority of participants received education on important topics in school, with topics like reproduction or pregnancy being the most common (55%). Other topics covered in school included puberty (44%), STI prevention or testing (43%), and contraception (41%), while topics like consent (17%), gender (12%), and healthy relationships (7%) were rarely addressed. Topics related to pleasure, communication, and mutual satisfaction were almost nonexistent in school curriculum.

The survey results indicated that the vast majority of participants believed that additional sex education would have positively impacted their lives today. Many expressed that better sex education would have resulted in healthier romantic relationships, improved understanding of how to be a good partner, enhanced sexual confidence, a better quality of life, and a deeper understanding of their own bodies.

This study underscores the importance of comprehensive sex education for adults in fostering healthy romantic and sexual relationships. It also highlights the significant demand among adults for better information and opportunities to bridge knowledge gaps later in life. Evidence-based resources like the Crash Course Sex Ed online program, developed in collaboration with the Kinsey Institute, offer adults accessible and credible information to address their educational deficiencies.