Purpose
Healthcare professionals work in high stress environments and may benefit from organizational efforts that enhance coping abilities. Community-based psychological first aid (CBPFA) is an evidence-informed program designed for building these skills and promoting resilience during stressful times. However, few studies have examined the effectiveness of CBPFA. The paper aims to discuss these issues.
Design/methodology/approach
This study examined the effectiveness of CBPFA training in promoting occupational self-efficacy and intentions to use CBPFA among oncology care staff over time using a longitudinal design.
Findings
Participants reported increased occupational self-efficacy and intentions to use CBPFA skills after completing training. These factors remained stable at one-month follow-up.
Research limitations/implications
The implications of these results are limited by the lack of a control group in the study’s design, relatively homogenous sample and participant dropout.
Originality/value
Despite the study’s limitations, these results represent an initial step in empirically examining the impact of CBPFA trainings and providing evidence that CBPFA may be an effective preparedness and development program in high-stress healthcare settings.
In an anonymous survey of 195 men and 511 women (M = 19.8) at a small Midwestern university, 119 men (61%) and 303 women (59.5%) reported that they had engaged in sex while parked. Of these 422, 14% lost their virginity in a parked car. Having sex in parked cars was more likely to involve relational dating partners than hookups. In most recent incidents, the majority of respondents were with a serious but noncohabiting romantic partner (56.9%) in the back seat (63.4%) of a standard car (56.4%) parked out in the country (56.0%). The most common sexual acts were penile-vaginal sex and genital touching, reported by 84.6% and 57.5% of respondents, respectively. Condoms were used by 58.2% of respondents. Less than 1% of respondents reported sexually transmitted infections (STIs) or pregnancy outcomes. These data, including personal stories of memorable incidents, revealed that despite discomfort, body bumps, and risk of being caught, sex while parked was primarily a positive sexual and romantic experience for both men and women. A dark side of parked-car sex existed in that 2.5% of men and 4.3% of women reported being sexually coerced. The future study of sex in parked cars in urban environments is recommended.
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