Posttraumatic Growth and Related Factors in Firefighters

Abstract

Purpose:The purposes of this study were to investigate the posttraumatic growth, a positive mental and psychological change and related factors experienced by firefighters, in order to prevent PTSD and to for use as basic data for mental health promotion. Methods: This study was a descriptive research study with 186 firefighters working in two fire stations in Busan Metropolitan City. It was conducted from August 1 to 31, 2015. There were 5 research tools in the structured survey, including IES-R-K, Resilience Scale, FACES-III, OCQ, and K-PTGI. Collected data were analyzed with t-test, ANOVA, Pearson correlation coefficients and multiple linear regression analysis using SPSS/WIN 18.0. Results: The related factors affecting posttraumatic growth in firefighers were family cohesion (β =.15, p=.044), organizational commitment (β=.61, p<.001), gender (β=.16, p=.023) and amount of work experience in the current field (β=.28, p=.001). The explanatory power of these factors for posttraumatic growth was 43.1%. Conclusion:The results indicate a need to develop and distribute intervention programs that focus on strengthening the resilience of individuals, organizational commitment and family cohesion to promote post-traumatic growth, instead of focusing on crisis intervention and follow-up programs after traumatic experiences.

Latent profile analysis of post-traumatic stress and post-traumatic growth among firefighters

“…Next, firefighters with longer years of service were more likely to be part of a group experiencing both PTSD and PTG. Kwak and Bae ( 2017 ) speculated that increased familiarity and proficiency in work may promote PTG, but other studies (Martin et al, 2017 ; Morris et al, 2016 ) suggest that the accumulation and chronicity of trauma stress that comes with more work experience may lead to the findings of this study. Because research findings vary, work experience cannot simply be viewed as a factor that promotes PTSD or PTG.…”

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

“…Similar research by Aron et al (2019) examining trauma in elite athletes reported strong correlations between PTSD, perfectionism, and compartmentalisation as coping mechanism. However, not all stressful and traumatic experiences trigger adverse psychological consequences, and with effective coping methods and emotional awareness, adaptive change and post-traumatic growth can occur ( Kwak and Bae, 2017 ; Brooks et al, 2018 ). Fletcher (2019) noted that the combination of psychological (e.g., confidence, awareness, and motivation) and environmental factors (e.g., support and camaraderie) influenced athletes’ ability to adapt, develop resilience and experience growth following stress and adversary.…”