Concept Analysis of Emotional Regulation in the Elderly

目的：明确老年人情绪调节的定义及内涵。方法：系统检索中国知网、万方数据库、PubMed、Web of Science、维普网数据库中与老年情绪调节相关的文献，检索时限为建库至2025年3月。依据纳入排除标准筛选文献，并按照Rodgers演化概念分析法对文献进行分析。结果：通过阅读标题，摘要及全文，最终纳入文献32篇。确定了老年人情绪调节的4个概念属性：情绪体验、情绪反应、情绪调节策略的使用、行为表达。归纳出情绪调节的前置因素包括生理(年龄、性别、健康水平、疼痛、生理机制、睡眠质量)、社会(经济问题、人际关系冲突、受教育程度、自然灾害等)、心理因素(认知能力)。后置影响包括对个人(心理健康和生活质量、身体健康、认知能力和行为模式)、社会(家庭关系、社交互动、公共卫生与经济负担)，其他(文化传承与价值观重塑)3个层面。结论：对老年人情绪调节的概念进行系统分析，进一步明确了其定义和内涵有助于为情绪调节困难的老年人提供干预措施，从而促进老年人情绪调节能力的提高。Objective: To clarify the definition and connotation of emotional regulation in the elderly. Methods: We systematically searched literature related to emotion regulation in older adults across multiple databases (CNKI, Wanfang, PubMed, Web of Science, and VIP), with a search timeframe from database inception to March 2025. Literature was screened based on predefined inclusion/exclusion criteria and analyzed using Rodgers’ evolutionary concept analysis method. Results: After reading the titles, abstracts, and full texts, a total of 32 articles were finally included. Four conceptual attributes of emotion regulation in the elderly were determined: emotional experience, emotional response, use of emotion regulation strategies, and behavioral expression. The antecedent factors of emotion regulation were summarized, including physiological factors (age, gender, health level, pain, physiological mechanism, sleep quality), social factors (economic problems, interpersonal relationship conflicts, educational attainment, natural disasters, etc.), and psychological factors (cognitive ability). The subsequent impacts cover three aspects: impacts on the individual (mental health and quality of life, physical health, cognitive ability, and behavioral patterns), impacts on society (family relationships, social interactions, public health, and economic burden), and other aspects (cultural inheritance and the reshaping of values). Conclusion: A systematic analysis of the concept of emotional regulation in the elderly further clarifies its definition and connotation, which helps to provide intervention measures for the elderly with difficulties in emotional regulation, thereby promoting the improvement of the elderly’s emotional regulation ability.