Abstract
BackgroundHospitals, police stations, and fire departments are highly demanding workplaces. Staff members are regularly exposed to various stressors including traumatic events. Correspondingly, several studies report high rates of mental health issues among these occupations. Nevertheless, despite these challenging circumstances, some staff members manage to sustain their mental health. The current study is the first to investigate three health-promoting factors simultaneously among three different, highly demanding occupations.MethodsThe present cross-sectional survey investigated health-promoting factors (sense of coherence – SOC, trait-resilience, locus of control – LOC) and mental health outcomes (general psychopathological symptom burden, posttraumatic stress, burnout) in medical staff (n = 223), police officers (n = 257), and firefighters (n = 100).ResultsAmong all occupations, SOC, trait-resilience, and an internal LOC were negatively associated with general psychopathological symptoms, posttraumatic stress, and burnout symptoms. By contrast, all these outcome measures were positively correlated with an external LOC. Multiple regression models including all health-promoting factors explained 56% of the variance in general psychopathological symptoms and 27% in posttraumatic stress symptoms. Among all occupations, SOC was the strongest predictor of both general psychopathological symptom burden and posttraumatic stress symptoms. Multigroup path analyses revealed minor differences across occupations, mainly driven by a stronger influence of LOC in police officers.ConclusionAcross all occupations, SOC was identified as the most important health-promoting factor. Future longitudinal studies should further examine the causal link between health-promoting factors and mental distress in different workplaces. Such studies will also allow for further development and evaluation of resilience promoting programs.
Highlights
Hospitals, police stations, and fire departments are highly demanding workplaces
After applying Bonferroni-Holm’s correction, post-hoc tests revealed that police officers were significantly older than medical staff, t(457) = − 2.84, padjusted = .010, d = 0.27, and firefighters, t(345) = 3.06, padjusted = .006, d = 0.33
Post-hoc tests revealed that medical staff reported significantly fewer years of work experience than police officers and firefighters, t(543) =-6.06, padjusted < .001, d = 0.52
Summary
Police stations, and fire departments are highly demanding workplaces. Staff members are regularly exposed to various stressors including traumatic events. In case of police officers, symptom severity of mental health problems seem to depend on specific context factors: While a comparative study in the Netherlands did not find increased rates of mental health problems in police officers [12], studies conducted in Austria [13] and Sri Lanka [14] report higher rates of depression among police staff. The latter two lack a matched control group of other occupations with lower risks for traumatization and compare the prevalence rates to rates of the general population. Recent findings suggest high rates of mental health issues, including depression, PTSD, as well as substance abuse, and a linear relationship between the number of fatal incidents and the severity of mental health problems [16]
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