Cross-National Differences in the Interrelationship between Education, Use of Health Information from the Media, and Well-Being

Existing knowledge about differences in well-being is still incomplete. Based on the previous research, we hypothesize that there is a positive relationship between the use of health information from the media and well-being, and that the strength of this relationship increases with the number of years of schooling.

To test the hypotheses we used the data (n = 14,835) from the Eurobarometer survey which was conducted in several European countries (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom). We analyzed the data by applying hierarchical multiple regression analysis.

The findings indicate cross-national differences in the relationship between the use of health information from the media and well-being. Moreover, they suggest that the extent of education matters for this relationship, however its influence differs across countries.

Further research is needed to explain the differences found between the countries. The research results offer some suggestions for further research and for social policy initiatives to reduce educational differences in the relationship between the use of media information on health issues and well-being.

This chapter draws attention to the interrelationship between education, use of media information on health issues and well-being, as knowledge about this is scarce.