Coping in the Emergency Medical Services: Associations with the personnel’s stress, self-efficacy, job satisfaction, and health

Abstract

Background Emergency Medical Services personnel (EMSP) are recurrently exposed to chronic and traumatic stressors in their occupation. Effective coping with occupational stressors plays a key role in enabling their health and overall well-being. In this study, we examined the habitual use of coping strategies in EMSP and analyzed associations of coping with the personnel’s health and well-being. Method A total of N = 106 German Red Cross EMSP participated in a cross-sectional survey involving standardized questionnaires to report habitual use of different coping strategies (using the Brief-COPE), their work-related stress, work-related self-efficacy, job satisfaction, as well as mental and physical stress symptoms. Results A confirmatory factor analysis corroborated seven coping factors which have been identified in a previous study among Italian emergency workers. Correlation analyses indicated the coping factor “self-criticism” is associated with more work-related stress, lower job satisfaction, and higher depressive, posttraumatic, and physical stress symptoms. Although commonly viewed as adaptive coping, the coping factors “support/venting”, “active coping/planning”, “humor”, “religion”, and “positive reappraisal” were not related to health and well-being in EMSP. Exploratory correlation analyses suggested that only “acceptance” was linked to better well-being and self-efficacy in EMSP. Conclusion Our results emphasize the need for in-depth investigation of adaptive coping in EMSP to advance occupation-specific prevention measures.

Individual and Organizational Factors in Coping With COVID-19 in Soldier Students

“…Mediation analyses: Do coping strategies mediate the relationships between individual and organizational soldier student factors and loneliness, life satisfaction, and COVID-19 stress? Expected relations between personality and organizational predictors and coping strategies (for personality see Connor-Smith and Flachsbart, 2007;Agbaria and Mokh, 2021; for organizational predictors see Srivastava and Tang, 2015;Portero de la Cruz et al, 2020;Rojas et al, 2022) are presented in Table 1 along with expected relations between coping strategies and psychological health outcomes (Deckx et al, 2018;Gori et al, 2020;Minahan et al, 2021;Zacher and Rudolph, 2021b;Kavčič et al, 2022). The respective expected indirect effects can be obtained by multiplying the two direct effects (i.e., two positive and two negative direct effects yield a positive indirect effect, one positive and one negative direct effect yield a negative indirect effect, and if at least one direct effect is zero, the indirect effect will be zero).…”

Impacts of Post Critical Incident Seminar on emergency service personnel: The critical incident–related experiences and psychological state

“…Moreover, social support and especially cognitive coping strategies have been found to relate positively to post-traumatic growth (Gurowiec, Ogi nska-Bulik, Michalska & Ke z dra, 2022). Acceptance is included in positive coping strategies, and thus, there can be a link to what Rojas et al (2022) have found. Acceptance was also found in this study in one of the subcategories under the "New perspectives and sensations" main category.…”

“…Acceptance is included in positive coping strategies, and thus, there can be a link to what Rojas et al . (2022) have found. Acceptance was also found in this study in one of the subcategories under the “New perspectives and sensations” main category.…”

“…Not all the coping strategies are equally good for handling traumatic or chronic stressors at work, but for emergency medical services personnel, acceptance as a coping method was the most effective in relation to higher self‐efficacy and better well‐being (Rojas, Hickmann, Wolf, Kolassa & Behnke, 2022). Moreover, social support and especially cognitive coping strategies have been found to relate positively to post‐traumatic growth (Gurowiec, Ogińska‐Bulik, Michalska & Kędra, 2022).…”

PTSD, Relationship Satisfaction, and Social Support for EMS Workers and Their Romantic Partners

“…Previous research has found that using personal resources, social support, cognitive strategies, and coping skills predict intimacy and conflict in ambulance workers’ romantic relationships (Shakespeare-Finch et al, 2002). Supporting the efficacy of prevention and interventions that supports EMS workers will support relationships and families (Rojas et al, 2022). In terms of clinical applications, clinicians should assess EMS workers’ partners for dysphoric arousal (e.g., trouble sleeping, difficulty concentrating, and ruminating thoughts) that may elucidate internal intrusions and PTSD symptomology related to STS.…”