First-year college students' experiences of a brief sexual health seminar

College provides young adults with ongoing opportunities for relationship and sexual decision-making, but to date only limited attention has been given to college-level sexual health education experiences among first-year students. This study examined the experiences of 46 (31 women, 15 men) first-semester college students who participated in a brief sexual health seminar. Data were collected using semi-structured interviews and subjected to qualitative content analysis. Participants identified five content areas related to their experience of the course: (a) reasons for course involvement, (b) retrospective expectations for course involvement, (c) course takeaway messages, (d) efficiency of course content and coverage, and (e) course impact. Findings are discussed in terms of the most to least prominent themes within each content area. Participants reported positive perceptions of course involvement and gaining the greatest knowledge in areas of sexual and relational health, prevention and healthy decision-making. Implications for research and the development of future sexual health curricula to meet the needs of diverse college student populations are discussed.