Early Exposure to Sexual Content Effect on Relationship Perception and Socio-Emotional Well-Being

Early exposure to sexual content has drawn increasing attention due to its potential impact on individuals’ relationship expectations and socio-emotional development. Understanding this influence is essential to identify its psychological implications and to inform early awareness, education and preventive interventions. The study aimed to explore the effect of early exposure to sexual content on relationship perceptions of young adults and their socio-emotional well-being. This study utilized a qualitative research design to gain an in-depth understanding of the participants’ experience of this exposure and how it influences their growth. The sample was collected via the snowball technique, including 3 males and 3 females. An expert-validated semistructured interview questionnaire was used to elicit the data. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the data; the Braun and Clark,2021 model was used to identify the themes. The study assessed participants’ reports of how pornography affected their self-perception, body image, sexual knowledge, attitude towards sex, sex life, perception of and attitude toward the opposite gender and life in general. The results provided rich and meaningful insights into the ways early exposure to sexual content can influence socio-emotional development and relationship dynamics. The study adds literature to the existing repositories of knowledge