Problem-focused Coping, Avoidance Coping and Emotional Coping: Coping Strategies for Daily Stressors Among Operational and Non-operational Rescue Workers in Punjab, Pakistan

Abstract

Rescue workers are liable for responding to natural and man-made emergencies in the day-to-day routine. Operational rescue workers have to face extended duty hours, harsh behavior of crowds at the incident places, and less leisure time for themselves and their family members. In contrast, non-operational workers do not directly respond to emergencies. So, this study aimed to determine how operational and non-operational rescue workers cope with daily stressors. Furthermore, the study also aimed to test the correlation between different coping strategies among rescuers. For this purpose, a cross-sectional survey was conducted using cluster sampling techniques among 199 rescuers from nine districts in Punjab, Pakistan. Data was collected using the Brief COPE scale (Carver, 1997) and analyzed using correlation and t-test. Results of this study show that the mean scores of non-operational and operational rescue workers are significantly different from each other on "Problem-focused Coping," "Emotional Coping," and "Avoidance Coping." Likewise, "Problem-focused Coping" is negatively correlated to "Emotional Coping" and "Avoidance Coping." The study concludes that rescue workers who have "Problem-focused Coping" strategies are less likely to use "Emotional Coping" and "Avoidance Coping" strategies. Moreover, operational rescuers are less likely to use "Problem-focused Coping" and more likely to use "Emotional Coping" and "Avoidance Coping" strategies; however, non-operational rescue workers use coping strategies in vice versa.