Professional Quality of Life and Metacognition in Pakistan’s Hospital Teams: Moderation of Socio-Cognitive Mindfulness
Yumna Ali, Syeda Farhana Kazmi, Yasuhiro Kotera
Pakistan Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences December 24, 2025 DOI: 10.52131/pjhss.2025.v13i4.3032 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Cross-sectional survey Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 200 |
| Population | Hospital team members from two major hospitals in Lahore, Pakistan |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Key findings | Higher socio-cognitive mindfulness was associated with improved compassion satisfaction and perceived support and with lower burnout, moral distress, and secondary trauma stress among hospital staff. Socio-cognitive mindfulness also moderated the relationship between metacognition and professional quality of life across professional roles, which the authors say supports certified mindfulness programs for healthcare settings. |
Abstract
Socio-cognitive mindfulness and metacognition are crucial in healthcare services that affect professional quality of life and, in turn, can affect patient outcomes. Socio-cognitive mindfulness relates to embracing novelty in healthcare situations through flexibility and engagement within medical work routines, through using expert executive cognitive control. Despite these psychological processes, there are presently no certified mindfulness programs that can bring improvement for health staff. This study explored the moderating impact of socio-cognitive mindfulness on the relationship between metacognition and professional quality of life in hospital team members of Pakistan. For this purpose, a purposive sample of 200 staff from two major hospitals in Lahore was recruited. Self-report questionnaires of socio-cognitive mindfulness, metacognition, and professional quality of life were completed. The findings showed that the hospital team members remain under stress that impacts professional quality of life. If there were higher levels of socio-cognitive mindfulness, it resulted in improved compassion satisfaction and perceived support. Hence, it lowered the levels of burnout, moral distress, and secondary trauma stress in health teams. Furthermore, socio-cognitive mindfulness emerged as a significant moderator between metacognition and professional quality of life across different professional roles. Thus, the study indicates towards inclusion for certified mindfulness programs tailored for healthcare settings.
Comparable studies
Other cross-sectional and survey studies on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Construct Validity of the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire in Meditating and Nonmeditating Samples Experienced meditators and nonmeditating comparison groups | 2008 | Cross-sectional study | |
| Neural Correlates of Dispositional Mindfulness During Affect Labeling Adult participants | 2007 | Observational cross-sectional | n = 27 |
| Assessing mindfulness in children and adolescents: Development and validation of the Child and Adolescent Mindfulness Measure (CAMM). School-aged children and adolescents | 2011 | Cross-sectional validation study | n = 1,413 |
| Mindfulness and self-compassion as predictors of psychological wellbeing in long-term meditators and matched nonmeditators Experienced meditators and demographically matched nonmeditators | 2012 | Cross-sectional study | n = 152 |
| Mechanisms of Action in the Inverse Relationship Between Mindfulness and Psychological Distress Undergraduates | 2008 | Cross-sectional, correlational |