title: The relation between negative emotional suppression and emotional distress in breast cancer diagnosis and treatment.
abstract: Our objective was to investigate differences in emotional distress between negative emotional suppression and expression patients in the progress of medical treatment, including the operation. We studied the differences in affective response between patients who suppress negative emotion and those who express negative emotion by using Profile of Mood States (McNair, Lorr, & Droppleman, 1971) at four sessions: (a) at the first visit to the clinic, (b) immediately after being told the diagnosis of breast cancer, (c) after the operation, and (d) at 3 months after discharge. Our results showed that emotional suppression patients tended to report more emotional distress (in particular, anxiety, depression, and anger) than did emotional expression patients on 3 sessions, the exception being after the operation. Also, patients who suppress anger and anxiety felt strong psychological distress. We suggest that it is essential to encourage suppressive patients to express both negative and positive emotion clearly and appropriately.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Psychology, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kitasato University, kanagawa, Japan. iyumi@kitasato-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: Yumi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Iwamitsu
authors.forename: Kazutaka
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Shimoda
authors.forename: Hajime
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Abe
authors.forename: Toru
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tani
authors.forename: Masako
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Okawa
authors.forename: Ross
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Buck
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology* / Q000601:surgery; D004644:Emotions; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires