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This article presents findings from two studies that describe news portrayals of cancer causes and prevention in local TV and test the effects of typical aspects of this coverage on cancer-related fatalism and overload. Study 1 analyzed the content of stories focused on cancer causes and prevention from an October 2002 national sample of local TV and newspaper cancer coverage (n = 122 television stations; n = 60 newspapers). Informed by results from the content analysis, Study 2 describes results from a randomized experiment testing effects of the volume and content of news stories about cancer causes and prevention (n = 601). Study 1 indicates that local TV news stories describe cancer causes and prevention as comparatively more certain than newspapers but include less information about how to reduce cancer risk. Study 2 reveals that the combination of stories conveying an emerging cancer cause and prevention behavior as moderately certain leads to an increased sense of overload, while a short summary of well-established preventive behaviors mitigates these potentially harmful beliefs. We conclude with a series of recommendations for health communication and health journalism practice.

sychological stress and suicide risk have significantly increased from 2008 to 2017 among people in the US aged 18 to 25 years. 1 Twelve-month prevalence of major depressive episodes has significantly increased for people aged 12 to 20 years from 2005 to 2014. 2 Anxiety and depression remain underdiagnosed and undertreated among young people. Anxiety affects 30% of adolescents, yet 80% of those affected never seek treatment. 3 Only 50% of adolescents with depression are diagnosed before reaching adulthood. 4,5 Mental health risk especially is increasing among young Black/ African American male individuals (YBAAM), 6 who are often disproportionately exposed to environmental, economic, and family stressors linked with depression and anxiety. [7][8][9][10][11] Young Black/African American male individuals, and US adolescents generally, are among the least likely to use mental health services. [12][13][14][15] Corresponding with the lack of mental health treatment among US youths, the suicide rate for people aged 15 to 24 years in the US in 2017 reached its highest point since 1960. 16 Among people aged 10 to 24 years, suicide rates climbed 56% from 2007 to 2017. 17 Suicide rates among Black/African American youths aged 13 to 19 years increased by 60% since 2001, and in 2017, medical treatment for suicide attempts was provided to 68 528 YBAAM aged 13 to 19 years. 18 Young Black/African American male individuals constitute a significant portion of the audience for rap music, which IMPORTANCE Rap artists are among the most recognizable celebrities in the US, serving as role models to an increasingly diverse audience of listeners. Through their lyrics, these artists have the potential to shape mental health discourse and reduce stigma. OBJECTIVE To investigate the prevalence and nature of mental health themes in popular rap music amid a period of documented increases in mental health distress and suicide risk among young people in the US and young Black/African American male individuals in particular.

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