Citation

Wastell CA. J. Nerv. Ment. Dis. 2002; 190(12): 839-845.

Affiliation

Department of Psychology, Macquarie University, NSW 2109, Sydney, Australia.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2002, Lippincott Williams and Wilkins)

DOI

10.1097/01.NMD.0000042454.90472.4F

PMID

12486372

Abstract

A cross-sectional study of 437 ambulance officers in a large state of Australia examined the long-term effects of suppressing emotion reactions to exposure to trauma. Results indicate that the use of emotion-suppressing defenses (e.g., withdrawal or acting out) have a highly significant positive relationship with physical and psychological stress symptoms. Alexithymia scores were also positively associated with stress symptoms. In addition, there was a positive association between years of ambulance service and stress symptoms. Implications of the findings are discussed for recovery from exposure to trauma of emergency services personnel and more generally to the experience of survivors of trauma.

Language: en