Citation

Kshtriya S, Lawrence J, Kobezak HM, Popok PJ, Lowe S. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022; 19(12): e7009.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2022, MDPI: Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute)

DOI

10.3390/ijerph19127009

PMID

35742258

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate whether two emotion regulation strategies, expressive suppression or cognitive reappraisal, mediated the development of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), major depression (MD), and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) in first responders (FR) who experienced occupational stressors, using cross-sectional data. An aggregate of 895 first responders (M = 37.32, SD = 12.09, 59.2% male, 91.3% Caucasian) who were recruited through professional organizations and social media sites across North and South American states participated in an online Qualtrics survey. Bivariate correlation analyses demonstrated that occupational stressors were positively correlated with expressive suppression and each mental health outcome but were not significantly correlated with cognitive reappraisal. Mediation analyses demonstrated expressive suppression as a significant mediator between occupational stressors and PTSD, MD, and GAD symptoms, but not cognitive reappraisal. Even though these findings are in purview of a cross-sectional research design, they suggest the importance of practices that bolster first responders' ability to use more effective and adaptive emotion regulation strategies such as emotion expression, effective communication, and cognitive reappraisal that might help enhance psychological resilience.

Language: en

Keywords

emotion regulation; cognitive reappraisal; expressive suppression; first responders