Job Stress and Well-being of Firefighters in Taiwan: The Role of Leisure Coping Strategies

Abstract

The working hours of the firefighters in Taiwan are twice as much in comparison to UK, US and Australia. The situation of a staff shortage is very common in many fire stations. The main purpose of this study is to explore the mediating effects of leisure coping strategies between job stress and the well-being of Taiwanese firefighters. A face to face questionnaire survey was adopted to conduct research for this study. A total of 383 valid questionnaires were collected in 12 fire stations in Taipei. The results show that job stress and well-being are correlated. It is also found that firefighters who had higher job stress were more likely to have leisure coping strategies, and leisure coping strategies play a role as a mediator between job stress and the well-being of firefighters in Taiwan. This study concluded that the firefighters with higher leisure coping strategies experience more feelings of well-being than those who rarely cope with their job stress feelings.