Copyright: ©Author(s) 2026. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license. No commercial re-use. See permissions. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc.
World J Clin Oncol. May 24, 2026; 17(5): 120810
Published online May 24, 2026. doi: 10.5306/wjco.v17.i5.120810
Published online May 24, 2026. doi: 10.5306/wjco.v17.i5.120810
Psychological flexibility and coping behaviors in cervical cancer patients: Moderating role of illness perception
Yan-Fei Di, Qian Li, Department of Nursing, Women’s Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing Women and Children’s Healthcare Hospital, Nanjing 210004, Jiangsu Province, China
Zhen Zhang, Department of Oncology, Haian Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine Affiliated to Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nantong 226600, Jiangsu Province, China
Xue Han, Qin Chen, Xin-Ying He, Department of Gynecological Oncology, Women’s Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing Women and Children’s Healthcare Hospital, Nanjing 210004, Jiangsu Province, China
Peng-Fei Xu, Department of Nephrology, Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, The Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University Medical School, Nanjing 210000, Jiangsu Province, China
Hai-Xiang Wang, Department of Critical Care Medicine, The Affiliated Wuxi People’s Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Wuxi People’s Hospital, Wuxi Medical Center, Nanjing Medical University, Wuxi 214023, Jiangsu Province, China
Co-first authors: Yan-Fei Di and Zhen Zhang.
Co-corresponding authors: Xin-Ying He and Peng-Fei Xu.
Author contributions: Chen Q and He XY conceived and designed the study; Wang HX performed the literature search; Di YF acquired data and drafted the manuscript; He XY assisted in revising the manuscript; Chen Q and Zhang Z wrote the original draft; Li Q and Han X wrote, reviewed and edited the manuscript; Wang HX and Xu PF ensured the authenticity of all the raw data. All authors have read and approved the final manuscript. Di YF and Zhang Z contributed equally to this work as co-first authors. We respectfully provide the following rationale for designating two co-corresponding authors in this nursing study. First, the two authors made equal and substantial contributions to the study conception, research design, data collection and interpretation of nursing practice outcomes. Second, this study involves two complementary areas of nursing expertise: One author is a clinical nursing specialist responsible for bedside protocol implementation and patient outcome assessment, while the other is a nursing educator/researcher with advanced expertise in theoretical framework development and statistical analysis. Neither author could independently oversee all aspects of the study without compromising scientific rigor. Third, both co-corresponding authors share equal responsibility for data integrity, ethical oversight (including nursing ethics considerations), and manuscript revisions. Therefore, we believe that co-corresponding authorship accurately reflects their equal leadership roles and adheres to transparency and fairness in nursing scholarship.
Supported by Science and Technology Development Fund Project of Nanjing Medical University, No. NMUB20240252.
Institutional review board statement: The study was reviewed and approved by the Medical Ethics Committee of Nanjing Women and Children’s Healthcare Hospital, No. PJ-2025KY017-001.
Informed consent statement: Informed consent was waived.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors have no relevant financial or non-financial interests to disclose.
STROBE statement: The authors have read the STROBE Statement-checklist of items, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the STROBE Statement-checklist of items.
Data sharing statement: The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request. All requests relating to data should be addressed to xinying@njmu.edu.cn.
Corresponding author: Xin-Ying He, Department of Gynecological Oncology, Women’s Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing Women and Children’s Healthcare Hospital, No. 123 Mochou Road, Tianfei Lane, Qinhuai District, Nanjing 210004, Jiangsu Province, China. xinying@njmu.edu.cn
Received: March 9, 2026
Revised: April 10, 2026
Accepted: April 23, 2026
Published online: May 24, 2026
Processing time: 73 Days and 5 Hours
Revised: April 10, 2026
Accepted: April 23, 2026
Published online: May 24, 2026
Processing time: 73 Days and 5 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: This study examines the relationship between psychological flexibility and coping behaviors in cervical cancer patients, with illness perception as a moderator. Results show that higher psychological flexibility is associated with more positive coping and less negative coping. Illness perception significantly moderates the link between psychological flexibility and negative coping, suggesting that interventions targeting both factors may help reduce maladaptive coping responses in this population.