Citation

Ogińska-Bulik N, Kobylarczyk M. Int. J. Occup. Safety Ergonomics 2015; 22(1): 40-48.

Affiliation

a Institute of Psychology , University of Łódź , Poland.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2015, Centralny Instytut Ochrony Pracy - Państwowy Instytut Badawczy, Publisher Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/10803548.2015.1109372

PMID

26651530

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to establish the relation between resiliency and the level of positive changes, comprising posttraumatic growth in a group of firefighters experiencing job-related traumatic events and the mediating role of stress appraisal in this relation. The study was performed on a group of 100 firefighters from firefighting and rescue brigades, out of which 75 admitted to experiencing a traumatic event. Firefighters covered by the study were on average 31.51 years old (SD = 6.34). A Polish version of Posttraumatic Growth Inventory, the Resiliency Assessment Scale - SPP and Stress Appraisal Questionnaire were used in the study. The results have shown that 22.7% of firefighters displayed low, 58.6% average and 18.7% high intensity of positive changes resulting from a traumatic event. Resiliency poorly correlates with posttraumatic growth, expressed in changes in self-perception, and stronger with stress appraisal, negatively with threat and harm/loss and positively with challenge. Appraisal of stress as a threat and challenge appeared to be mediators of the relationship between resiliency and posttraumatic growth.

Language: en