Watching TV programmes about illness can increase viewers' fear of illness.

This is the finding of a study that was presented on the 10 September 2008 at The British Psychology Society's Division of Health Psychology conference in Bath by Dr. Jan Van Mierlo of Hasselt University, Belgium.

There is a common perception that having certain illnesses either discussed on TV or acted out as part of a drama helps the general public understand and become more informed. This study focussed on whether exposing people to different types of illnesses on TV would make them more aware or make them more afraid.

Researchers questioned 1,275 adolescents were questioned about the amount of TV and the type of TV programmes they watched; they were also questioned about their own fears and perceptions of illness.

Dr Van Mierlo concluded: "The findings revealed that exposure to television images of medical characters was strongly associated with fear of illness. Specifically, fear of illness increased with age and girls were more afraid of illness than boys.

"Future research should examine the long-term impact of specific types of medical TV programme on fear of illness, such as medical documentaries, reality programmes and hospital dramas as these could potentially be doing as much harm as good."

More than 700 psychologists from the UK, Europe and further are gathering at the University of Bath from 9 - 12 September 2008 for the joint European Health Psychology Society and British Psychological Society's Division of Health Psychology Conference 2008.

The conference, themed 'Behaviour, Health and Healthcare: From Physiology to Policy', will look at how psychology can be applied at individual and group level to promote health, and even prevent illness, at a national level.

The British Psychology Society