Citation

Reyes-Mota AR, Cerda-Molina AL, Mayagoitia-Novales L, Viveros-Sandoval ME, Borráz-León JI. Pers. Individ. Dif. 2021; 179: e110929.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2021, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.paid.2021.110929

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Emergency Medical Technicians are health professionals commonly exposed to dangerous traumatic scenarios which can lead to an altered hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and stress related symptoms; however, the stress intensity may be mediated by personality traits such as self-esteem. We tested, in a population of 96 EMTs from the National Red Cross, the hypothesis of reduced cortisol secretion after the exposition to traumatic content images that could represent a stressor in non-paramedic healthy volunteers (59 non-EMTs). We took three saliva samples to measure cortisol (basal, 15 and 30 min after the images) and quantified the levels of self-esteem, perceived and physiological stress.

RESULTS showed a peak of cortisol 15 min after the images in the non-EMTs population, whereas a decreased cortisol profile was observed in EMTs, suggesting a higher sensitivity for a negative feedback regulation of cortisol. EMTs had lower levels of perceived stress but higher physiological stress symptoms than non-EMTs. The most important predictors of cortisol levels in EMTs were the number of working days per week and self-esteem which also had a negative correlation with perceived and physiological stress. We suggested that, in general, this paramedic population is habituated and predisposed to accidental scenarios.

Language: en

Keywords

Cortisol; Paramedics; Perceived stress; Physiological stress; Self-esteem; Stress response