Surf lifeguards are exposed to a range of potentially traumatic events, yet little is known about the impact of this work. A cross-sectional online survey gathered information on personal and surf lifesaving trauma exposure, posttraumatic stress symptoms, posttraumatic growth, perceived social support, and perceived self-efficacy. Statistical analyses were performed to explore hypothesized relationships between these constructs and demographic variables. A total of 181 lifeguards, 17 years and older, were included in the final analysis. Men reported significantly higher trauma exposure; women presented with higher posttraumatic stress; and adolescent participants reported higher posttraumatic stress and posttraumatic growth. However, personal traumatic events alone showed a small but significant relationship with posttraumatic stress and posttraumatic growth. The expected relationships between perceived social support and perceived self-efficacy and between perceived self-efficacy and posttraumatic stress were not verified. Perceived social support and perceived self-efficacy did show a small significant positive relationship with posttraumatic growth. Exploratory analysis did show that age moderated the relationship between trauma exposure and both posttraumatic stress and posttraumatic growth. Key findings suggest that young lifeguards may be more vulnerable to posttraumatic stress yet have the potential to develop posttraumatic growth with increased trauma exposure, and women may be more vulnerable to posttraumatic stress than men. Although more research is needed to support the current findings, identifying those at risk for posttraumatic stress may be an important focus for the surf lifesaving community.
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