A scoping review on the Emotional Suppression in Cancer Patients

The incidence and mortality rates of cancer worldwide continue to rise annually. A cancer diagnosis constitutes a stressful event, requiring patients to cope with unpredictable psychological trauma stemming from the disease and its poor prognosis. Emotional suppression is one such coping mechanism. Emotional suppression, also known as emotion expression inhibition, is commonly defined as the tendency to consciously inhibit emotional expression when emotions are aroused. Although existing studies have employed various tools to assess emotional suppression in cancer patients, no widely accepted unified measurement standard has been established, leading to significant variability in research findings. Furthermore, existing intervention studies are scarce, and the types of interventions are incomplete. Therefore, conducting research on emotional suppression in cancer patients is particularly important. This study adheres to scoping review reporting standards, systematically reviewing the current status, influencing factors, assessment tools, and intervention measures for emotional suppression in cancer patients. It aims to provide a reference for identifying, assessing, and managing emotional suppression in this population.