Study: TV health focus can worry viewers

SOUTH KINGSTOWN –Television’s heavy dose of medical content in news and drama can lead to more concern among viewers about personal health and reduce a person’s satisfaction with life, according to a new University of Rhode Island study.
The report by Yinjiao Ye, assistant professor of communications studies, found that TV viewing affects people’s awareness of health risks and whether they believe they can protect their own health. People develop these perceptions because TV viewing leads them to believe they have a greater likelihood of being victimized by health risks as well as a strong belief in the severity of those risks.
The research was published in the September issue of the journal Mass Communication and Society.
In her study, the URI professor surveyed 274 students in the College of Communications at the University of Alabama about their TV viewing and life satisfaction. The students were not told the purpose of the survey.
The surveyed students ranged in age from 18 to 31, a youthful group associated with good health and vitality.
“While this surveyed group shows dissatisfaction, I suspect that if I surveyed a more general population the dissatisfaction would be even higher,” said the researcher. &#8226