Self-esteem and suppression of negative emotions among medical students: a cross-sectional study

Suppression of negative emotions is one of the response-focused strategies within the broader field of emotion regulation. It refers to the inhibition or restriction of emotional expression, particularly in relation to anger, anxiety, and depressed mood. Among medical students, this issue may be especially relevant because professional socialization often promotes emotional restraint and functioning under psychological pressure. The aim of this study was to assess the association between self-esteem and suppression of negative emotions among medical students in Poland. Selected self-reported psychosocial characteristics were also analyzed as contextual variables.

A cross-sectional study was conducted among 611 students of medical and health sciences universities in Poland. Data were collected online using the Computer Assisted Web Interview procedure. The Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (SES), the Courtauld Emotional Control Scale (CECS), and an original sociodemographic questionnaire were used.

The mean SES score was 28.22 ± 5.42, indicating an average level of self-esteem, while the mean CECS score was 53.59 ± 12.49. Self-esteem was negatively correlated with the total CECS score and with all CECS subscales: anger, depression, and anxiety. Differences in self-esteem and suppression of negative emotions were also observed according to selected self-reported psychosocial characteristics. A sense of belonging to a social group was associated with higher self-esteem and lower CECS scores. Secondary exploratory indirect-association analyses showed that CECS anger, depression, and anxiety subscales were strongly interrelated. These findings were interpreted as hypothesis-generating and not as evidence of causal mediation or temporal mechanisms.

Lower self-esteem was associated with greater suppression of negative emotions among medical students. Selected self-reported psychosocial characteristics were associated with differences in SES and CECS scores, but these findings should be interpreted descriptively and with caution. Due to the cross-sectional design, the findings should be interpreted as associations and not as evidence of causal relationships.