Where do young adults get information about STIs and HPV? Latent information-source profiles and preventive orientations in Italy.

Sexual health information practices are increasingly framed as individual responsibilities, yet they are enacted within unequal informational and institutional ecologies. Interpreting the findings through a sexual citizenship lens, this study examines where young adults in Italy obtain information about sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and human papillomavirus (HPV), and how information-source profiles are associated with STI/HPV knowledge and prevention-related measures. We analyse a 2024 quota-based online survey of Italian residents aged 16-30 (N = 3105; post-stratification weighted), using latent class analysis of STI-related information sources and weighted multinomial logistic regression. Four profiles emerge: a Legacy-media profile, a Social media-centric profile, an Expert/institutional profile, and an Interpersonal/family profile. Profile membership is most consistently associated with gender, age, exposure to school-based STI/sexual health sessions, STI/HPV knowledge, condom-use frequency, and HPV-vaccination attitudes and uptake. Citizenship, religiosity, household income/resources, and municipality size do not robustly differentiate profiles in the adjusted model. Findings reframe STI/HPV information practices as relational and institutionally scaffolded, rather than as purely individual choices. Policy and practice implications include coordinated multi-channel communication and minimum provision standards for sexuality education, youth-friendly counselling, STI testing, and HPV-vaccination pathways.