Emotional regulation and professional quality of life among palliative care professionals

Emotional regulation refers to the ability to manage and express emotions in accordance with individual goals and situational demands, whereas professional quality of life represents the overall well-being derived from caregiving work, including compassion satisfaction, burnout, and secondary traumatic stress. The present study employed a quantitative correlational research design to examine the relationship between emotional regulation and professional quality of life among palliative care professionals in India. A total of 109 participants, including doctors and nurses, were selected using purposive sampling from palliative care settings. The Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ) was used to assess emotional regulation strategies such as cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression, while the Professional Quality of Life Scale (ProQOL) was used to measure compassion satisfaction, burnout, and secondary traumatic stress. The results revealed that no significant relationships were found between emotional regulation strategies and professional quality of life variables; however, significant relationships were observed among the dimensions of professional quality of life. These findings suggest that individual emotional regulation strategies may not significantly influence professional well-being in this context, and that broader organizational and cultural factors may play a more important role. The study emphasizes the need for structured institutional support to enhance the quality of life of palliative care professionals.