Women may be better at expressing their emotions than men - but those who can't do so suffer greater health problems, new research in York has shown.

Two York University academics, Dr Angela Forbes and Dr David Roger, have gathered evidence that women are particularly likely to suffer ill-health if they are unable to express their emotions.

Their study indicates that illness can be related to stress and emotional problems.

And "fear of disclosure" is a key factor in deciding how people cope with emotional upset.

It is generally acknowledged that being able to express emotion to others can help to reduce stress, and the term "social support" is used to describe those who can act as listeners - whether family, friends or professionals like counsellors.

But Dr Roger said though the supports may be there, fear of disclosure would leave some people unable to express themselves to potential listeners, possibly because they felt foolish or vulnerable and "exposed" as a result.

He and Dr Forbes have developed a means of measuring an individual's capacity to use social support effectively, called the Interpersonal Trust Questionnaire.

They used that and a separate questionnaire aimed at measuring personal health to trace the health status of about 350 students starting courses at the university, during a period of change and adaptation to new social circumstances.

It showed that of those who showed fear of disclosure, it was women rather than men who reported greater deterioration in physical and mental health - although women are generally better at expressing emotions and are more emotionally sensitive than men.

Dr Roger explained the problems people suffered could include a flaring up of chronic illnesses, such as skin conditions, or appearance of acute ailments.

"The people who both bottle up emotions and go on ruminating about emotional upset are particularly vulnerable," he added.

"The ability to make effective use of social support has been found to predict mental health outcomes, and our finding shows that this may also be true for physical well-being, at least as far as females are concerned."

Dr Roger said to avoid such problems people needed to express their emotions in appropriate circumstances. "It's really very much about being able to put things into perspective," he said, adding the university was offering a training programme to help people with their self-esteem.

The study, entitled Stress, Social Support and fear of Disclosure, is published in today's British Journal of Health Psychology.

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