During the past few decades, people have been increasingly exposed to health-related messages in the mass media, conveying recommendations for healthy lifestyles. The present study investigates whether these messages represent a stressor, and whether coping responses increase levels of motivation or levels of negative affect. A sample of 403 women aged 45 years were surveyed twice, at an interval of 4 weeks. A substantial proportion of the participants perceived the health messages to be stressful (increased levels of threat). Overall, the participants reported a greater use of adaptive than non-adaptive coping when exposed to the health messages. Socio-economic status (defined in educational terms) was negatively correlated with non-adaptive coping, while health consciousness was positively correlated with adaptive coping. Adaptive coping was positively related, and non-adaptive coping was negatively related, to intentions and behaviours. Non-adaptive coping was associated with stronger negative emotions. The results indicate that less-educated women tend to respond more non-adaptively to health messages than more-educated women; for the former group, this has negative consequences in terms of increased levels of negative emotions and decreased levels of motivation to engage in healthy behaviours. (Contains 2 tables and 1 figure.)