Saccinto); in undertaking this work and in allowing the project findings to be published.The manuscript has not been published elsewhere and it has not been submitted simultaneously for publication else-where.
DISTRESS AND GROWTH AMONG FIREFIGHTERS 4Predictors of post-event distress and growth among firefighters after work-related emergencies -a cross-national study Abstract (172 words) Firefighters may experience posttraumatic stress symptomatology (i.e. post-event distress) as a consequence of exposure to work-related distressing incidents. However, positive psychological changes (i.e. post-event growth) should also be taken into account. The aim of this cross-national study was to investigate both post-event distress and growth in firefighters following distressing incidents. A sample of 1916 firefighters from eight predominantly European countries recalled a work-related distressing incident. Two hierarchical regression analyses were run to reveal predictors of post-event distress and growth, respectively.Predictors included person pre-event characteristics, objective (e.g. type of incident, time since incident, fatalities) and subjective (e.g. perceived life-threat, peri-event distress, most distressing aspect) incident features, and the participant's country. Post-event distress was measured by the Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R) and growth by the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory-Short Form (PTGI-SF). The final models explained 29% of the variation in post-event distress and 26% in growth. Post-event distress and growth were predicted by different variables. Country differences were found after controlling for all other variables.Further research is needed to explain these differences.