Abstract
The work environment of emergency workers is an important factor related to stress. Coping with the COVID-19 emergency is a factor that is highly related to stress, and severe stress is a risk factor for developing secondary trauma. Coping and resilience can help rescue workers to better respond in emergency situations and could protect them from secondary trauma. We aimed to explore the relationship of emergency stress, hardiness, coping strategies, and secondary trauma among emergency workers and the mediating roles of coping strategies and hardiness on the effect of stress in producing secondary trauma. The study involved 513 emergency workers from the Red Cross Committee in Veneto, one of the Italian regions most affected by the COVID-19. Participants completed questionnaires online to measure emergency stress (physical, emotional, cognitive, organizational‒relational, COVID-19, and inefficacy decisional), hardiness, coping strategies, and secondary trauma. Other variables analyzed were age, gender, weekly hours of service, and use of personal protective equipment (PPE). We performed t-tests, a correlational analysis, regressions, and a mediation analysis. Hardiness and coping strategies, in particular, which stop unpleasant emotions and thoughts and problem-focused, emerged as mediators in reducing the predicted effect of stress on secondary trauma. The mediating effects of hardiness and coping strategies were found to reduce the effect of stress on arousal by 15% and the effect on avoidance by 25%.
Highlights
IntroductionStress and Secondary Trauma in Emergency Workers during the COVID-19 Pandemic
An initial analysis to verify Hypothesis 1 was conducted by Pearson s correlations between the variables of interest in this study: Emergency Stress Questionnaire (ESQ), Dispositional Resilience Scale-15—Italian Version (DRS-15), Stress Scale—Italian Version (STSS-I), and Coping Self-Efficacy Scale—Short Form (CSES-SF)
The results of this study show that the absence of protective equipment (PPE) has an effect on stress levels; it is necessary to highlight that the severity and extent of the responses to distress and secondary trauma are contained and limited by the intervention of coping and, in particular, by the stop unpleasant emotions and thoughts strategy and hardiness
Summary
Stress and Secondary Trauma in Emergency Workers during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Since February 2020, Italy has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Professionals, and volunteers were involved in several emergency activities for patients who needed help with transportation to the hospital, finding medicines, and basic needs. The largest and most complex organization, internationally recognized, is the Red Cross which, in addition to first aid and emergency intervention, has the aim of supporting the community in situations of emergency, disaster, and social inclusion. The Red Cross is divided into regional Committees, and this research work was done in collaboration with the Committee of the Veneto Region, one of the Italian regions affected at the beginning of the COVID-19 emergency. Veneto has the fourth highest levels of infection and deaths of all regions in Italy [1]
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