UCLA Research Explores Television as Teen Mental Health Resource

Joseph Kenan, MD, practices psychiatry with Joe Kenan & Associates in San Francisco, California. In addition to treating professionals in high tech industries, he has conducted and published research on child and adolescent psychiatry. One of the programs that Joseph Kenan completed in this field was a Child Psychiatry Fellowship at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).

A number of UCLA’s programs and initiatives focus on child health, including the university’s Center for Scholars and Storytellers (CSS). A collaboration space for academics and media creators, CSS published a report on Media and Teen Mental Health in May 2021, that discussed how films and television might have a positive impact on teenagers.

Until now, entertainment media has been associated with many of society’s ills, especially for the youth. The CSS report sought to determine whether popular television can actually help teenagers cope with problems like bullying, sexual assault, substance abuse, and depression. It used the controversial Netflix show “13 Reasons Why,” as sample content, measuring its impact on teen mental health. The show’s storyline is of a highly-sensitive nature, containing depictions of sexual assault, domestic violence, suicide, school shootings, and homelessness.

157 students between 13 and 17 years were selected from across the United States to participate in the study. At the beginning, all respondents completed a survey asking about depression, bullying, and sexual assault, and other topics that were depicted on “13 Reasons Why.” Later, they filled out another questionnaire, this time on whether they had sought out information regarding those topics. The 68 teens who had watched the show also provided information on whether they had discussed it and with whom.

The findings showed that exposure to the program resulted in 62 of the 68 participants researching and discussing the segments with peers and family. The teens also engaged with mental health education resources that the media personalities posted online. This corresponded with another CSS study that showed that fiction combined with accurate information could be an effective tool in changing attitudes and normalizing difficult conversations.