Occupational Stress and Anger: Mediating Effects of Resiliency in First Responders

Abstract

First responders experience substantial stress due to the nature of their work (Carleton et al. 2017 ). Occupational stress (OS) results from a myriad of employment conditions (e.g., ambiguous work expectations, unreasonable workload; Osipow 1998 ). OS can lead to maladaptive anger, which negatively impacts personal well-being and work performance (Velichkovsky 2009 ). In contrast, resilience to demanding working conditions is associated with lower state and trait anger (Wilson et al. 2001 ); thus, resilience may serve a protective ‘buffer’ role against anger in the face of stress. Thus, we hypothesized that resiliency would mediate relations between dimensions of OS and anger. The current study included 201 first responders (male = 77.6%; M age = 43.73 years ( SD = 10.97); police officers = 64.2%) who completed measures of OS (OSI-R; Osipow 1998 ), Anger (DSM-5 CC Anger; APA 2013 ), and Resiliency (CD-RISC; Connor and Davidson 2003 ). Results indicated that resiliency mediated relations between five components of OS and anger: Role Overload ( p < .001); Insufficiency ( p < .001); Role Boundary ( p < .001); Role Ambiguity ( p < .001); and Role Responsibility ( p < .001). Results support the importance of resiliency-enhancing interventions to offset the experience of anger when confronted with occupational stress in first responders.

Sustaining optimal performance when the stakes could not be higher: Emotional awareness and resilience in emergency service personnel (with learnings for elite sport)

“…By comparison, elite athletes are defined as those competing in athletic sport at the professional, Olympic, or collegiate levels ( Reardon and Factor, 2010 —see Swann et al, 2015 for a more detailed discussion). There are notable similarities between emergency services personnel and elite athletes, where both occupations: (1) are performance-based; (2) experience high expectations, pressure, and stress; and (3) are required to have psychological resilience and effective coping mechanisms ( Bicalho and Costa, 2018 ; Doyle et al, 2021 ). Furthermore, research outlines that both occupations experience significant mental health concerns including depression, anxiety, burnout, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and these conditions directly interfere with their ability to perform and execute their occupational responsibilities ( Rice et al, 2016 ; Regehr and LeBlanc, 2017 ; Shin and Kong, 2017 ; Klimley et al, 2018 ; Aron et al, 2019 ; Daumiller et al, 2021 ; Lynch, 2021 ).…”

“…(2) experience high expectations, pressure, and stress; and (3) are required to have psychological resilience and effective coping mechanisms (Bicalho and Costa, 2018;Doyle et al, 2021). Furthermore, research outlines that both occupations experience significant mental health concerns including depression, anxiety, burnout, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and these conditions directly interfere with their ability to perform and execute their occupational responsibilities (Rice et al, 2016;Regehr and LeBlanc, 2017;Shin and Kong, 2017;Klimley et al, 2018;Aron et al, 2019;Daumiller et al, 2021;Lynch, 2021).…”

Towards Phenotyping Suppressed Anger in Perimenopausal Women with Lyfas Biomedical Application: A Comprehensive Diagnostic Reliability Study

“…Women have better compensatory mechanisms in the brain and therefore do not usually express anger as men do. Apart from the environmental factors, the anger trait has a genetic basis through the expression of the monoamine oxidase (MAO)-A gene, as found in the study by Mentis et al (2021) [5], endocrine irregularities e,g., oestradiol (E2) and progesterone depletion, mentioned by Denson et al (2018) [6] and Chattopadhyay (2012) [7], substance abuse described by Lesser (2021) [8], several other environmental factors shown by Doyle et al (2021) [9], and mental illnesses that show high grades of anger issues are mentioned in the study of Roy et al (2020) [10]. The neurophysiology of anger shows that the orbital, medial, and ventrolateral frontal cortex are the key brain regions concerned with anger response and hence emotion tagged with anger is expressed more in these regions, as shown in the work of Blair (2012) [11].…”

Psychological Distress and Dyadic Coping in the Context of Marital Satisfaction of Indonesian Search and Rescue (SAR) Rescuers: A Mixed-Method Study

“…The level of psychological distress can often serve as an indicator of certain psychological disorders (Yasien et al, 2016). Symptoms of psychological distress can be generally found in first responders (including Search and Rescue (SAR) rescuers), whether or not they lead to psychological disorders or not, include: (1) aggression; (2) irritability; (3) behavioral changes at work; (4) withdrawal behavior; (5) symptoms of accute stress; (6) symptoms of depression; (7) symptoms of anxiety; and to the extent of (8) symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD; Doyle et al, 2021;Fullerton et al, 2004).…”

“…Tingkat tekanan psikologis yang dialami seringkali menjadi indikator munculnya gangguan psikologis tertentu (Yasien et al, 2016). Pada konteks profesi sebagai penanggap darurat pertama (termasuk Search and Rescue (SAR) rescuer), beberapa gejala tekanan psikologis yang umum ditemui, baik yang kemudian mengarah pada gangguan psikologis tertentu ataupun tidak, adalah adanya: (1) agresifitas; (2) perasaan mudah marah; (3) perubahan perilaku di tempat kerja; (4) perilaku menarik diri; (5) gejala dari stres akut; (6) gejala depresi; (7) gejala kecemasan; hingga (8) gejala Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD; Doyle et al, 2021;Fullerton et al, 2004).…”