A number of recent series airing on traditional and streaming platforms portray sensitive topics faced by adolescents, including depression and suicide. Research has suggested that these subjects may be difficult for parents and adolescents to discuss, given their stigmatized nature. It is possible, however, that series portraying these issues in a realistic way can influence parent viewers’ perceived understanding of and comfort discussing these topics, and subsequently, relate to self-reported conversations with their adolescents. In addition, it is likely that these relations may differ for participants from different countries, especially considering country differences in mental health, access to mental health care, and stigmatization about mental health. We tested these relations using data from 778 parent viewers of the series 13 Reasons Why. We sampled viewers from four countries: Australia, the United States, Brazil, and the United Kingdom. Results suggested an indirect association between self-reported topic understanding and starting a conversation with their adolescent about these topics via reports of comfort discussing these topics. Participants’ country of habitation at the time of the study did not significantly influence these associations. We discuss these findings in the context of parent-adolescent communication, particularly around sensitive health-related topics.

最近在传统和流媒体平台上播出的一些系列节目描绘了青少年面临的敏感话题，包括抑郁症和自杀。研究表明，鉴于这些主题的污名化性质，父母和青少年可能难以讨论这些主题。然而，以现实方式描绘这些问题的系列可能会影响父母观众对这些主题的感知理解和舒适度，并随后与他们与青少年的自我报告对话相关联。此外，对于来自不同国家的参与者而言，这些关系可能会有所不同，特别是考虑到国家在心理健康、获得心理健康保健以及对心理健康的污名化方面存在差异。我们使用来自该系列的 778 位家长观众的数据测试了这些关系13 个原因。我们对来自四个国家的观众进行了抽样调查：澳大利亚、美国、巴西和英国。结果表明，自我报告的主题理解与通过舒适地讨论这些主题的报告与青少年开始就这些主题进行对话之间存在间接关联。研究期间参与者的居住国对这些关联没有显着影响。我们在父母与青少年交流的背景下讨论这些发现，特别是围绕敏感的健康相关话题。