Resilience Measured as an Outcome Variable in a Sample of Emergency Medical Service (EMS) Professionals

Abstract

The construct of resilience is usually entered into statistical models as an independent variable even though scholars assert it should be conceptualised similarly to other post-trauma mental health outcomes (Kalisch et al., 2017). To the best of our knowledge, there are no other published papers using a dependent variable from a standardised resilience assessment and individual trauma exposure item-level responses as predictor variables. 93 Emergency Medical Service (EMS) professionals completed the Life Events Checklist (LEC) and the Brief Resilience Scale (BRS). Each response to all LEC questions was entered into a backwards stepwise regression predicting resilience. The backwards stepwise regression was significant F(7, 85) = 9.14, p < .001 and accounted for 38.3% of the variability in resilience. Gender and LEC items 3, 10, 12, and 13 negatively predicted resilience, whereas prior military service and LEC item 14 (sudden violent death) increased resilience. Even 20 months into the COVID-19 pandemic, EMS professionals continued to serve their communities. Surprisingly, sudden violent death significantly increased resilience (β = .43, p < .001). We concur with scholarship on EMS professionals (before and during the pandemic) that resilience should be thought of as applied when needed (Carbajal et al., 2021; Ponder et al., 2022).