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Kwak and Bae: Posttraumatic Growth and Related Factors in Firefighters
Original Article

J Korean Acad Psychiatr Ment Health Nurs 2017;26(2):124-133.

Published online: 7 June 2017

DOI: https://doi.org/10.12934/jkpmhn.2017.26.2.124

Posttraumatic Growth and Related Factors in Firefighters

Minyeong Kwak1, Jeongyee Bae2

1Busan Fire & Safety Headquarters Psychological Support Center, Busan, Korea

2Department of Nursing, Inje University · Inje University Institute for International Safe Community, Busan, Korea

Corresponding author: Bae, Jeongyee Department of Nursing, Inje University, 75 Bokji-ro, Busanjin-gu, Busan 47392, Korea. Tel: +82-51-890-6823, Fax: +82-51-896-9840, E-mail: jibai@inje.ac.kr

Received 9 January 20178 March 2017       Accepted 11 April 2017

Copyright © 2017 The Korean Academy of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

Purpose

The purposes of this study were to investigate the posttraumatic growth, a positive mental and psychological change and related factors experienced by firefighters, in order to prevent PTSD and to for use as basic data for mental health promotion.

Methods

This study was a descriptive research study with 186 firefighters working in two fire stations in Busan Metropolitan City. It was conducted from August 1 to 31, 2015. There were 5 research tools in the structured survey, including IES-R-K, Resilience Scale, FACES-III, OCQ, and K-PTGI. Collected data were analyzed with t-test, ANOVA, Pearson correlation coefficients and multiple linear regression analysis using SPSS/WIN 18.0.

Results

The related factors affecting posttraumatic growth in firefighers were family cohesion (β =.15, p=.044), organizational commitment (β=.61, p<.001), gender (β=.16, p=.023) and amount of work experience in the current field (β=.28, p=.001). The explanatory power of these factors for posttraumatic growth was 43.1%.

Conclusion

The results indicate a need to develop and distribute intervention programs that focus on strengthening the resilience of individuals, organizational commitment and family cohesion to promote posttraumatic growth, instead of focusing on crisis intervention and followup programs after traumatic experiences.

Keywords: Postrraumatic stress disorders, Resilience, Psychological, Family, Organizations

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Table 1.
Posttraumatic Growth according to the General Characteristics of Participants (N=186)
Characteristics Categories n (%) M±SD t or F (p) Scheffé
Gender Male 176 (94.6) 45.48±17.31 −11.74
Female 10 (5.4) 61.00±0.67 (<.001)
Age (year) 20~29 6 (3.2) 44.80±15.91 0.64
30~39 74 (39.8) 46.89±18.62 (.591)
40~49 88 (47.3) 49.67±17.56  
≥50 18 (9.7) 50.22±17.59  
Spouse Yes 156 (83.9) 46.17±17.21 −0.26
No 30 (16.1) 47.07±17.42 (.794)
Religion Yes 50 (26.9) 45.12±17.41 −0.57
No 136 (73.1) 46.75±17.17 (.568)
Education ≤Highschool 42 (22.6) 46.15±17.66 0.23
≥College 144 (77.4) 46.86±15.71 (.816)
Position Firefightera 28 (15.0) 15.10±20.29 3.97
Senior fire sergeantb 52 (28.0) 28.00±13.35 (.009)
Fire sergeantc 64 (34.4) 34.40±18.80 a, b<c
Above fire lieutenantd 42 (22.6) 22.60±14.72  
Field of work Fire extinguishment 102 (54.9) 47.04±16.47 1.70
Rescue 24 (12.9) 39.92±18.98 (.169)
Emergency medical serv vices 38 (20.4) 49.47±17.17  
Administration 22 (11.8) 44.45±17.83  
Work shift Ordinary day shift 22 (11.8) 42.09±17.16 1.51
Three-shift 164 (88.2) 46.88±17.18 (.221)
Amount of work experience (year) <5a 30 (16.1) 39.87±19.85 3.09
5~<10b 42 (22.6) 43.87±20.61 (.011)
10~<15c 46 (24.7) 44.25±12.98 a, b, c<f
15~<20d 26 (14.0) 50.11±17.76  
20~<25e 24 (12.9) 50.23±12.74  
≥25f 18 (9.7) 52.24±13.13  
Amount of work experience in current field (year) <5a 80 (43.0) 43.30±19.00 2.47
5~<10b 42 (22.6) 45.95±17.28 (.034)
10~<15c 30 (16.2) 52.67±14.33 (a<f
15~<20d 14 (7.5) 45.29±15.04  
20~<25e 14 (7.5) 45.14±10.85  
≥25f 6 (3.2) 62.33±2.88  
Experiences of psychological counseling or treatment Yes 16 (8.6) 50.38±17.58 0.99
No 170 (91.4) 45.93±17.17 (.324)
Table 2.
Degrees of Posttraumatic Growth, Posttraumatic Stress, Resilience, Family Cohesion, Organizational Commitment (N=186)
Variables Range Min Max M±SD Item range Item mean
Posttraumatic growth 0~80 0 72 46.31±17.20 0~5 2.89
Posttraumatic stress 0~88 0 52 10.22±13.34 0~4 0.46
Resilience 27~135 71 130 102.76±11.85 1~5 3.81
Family cohesion 10~50 28 46 37.60±4.14 1~5 3.76
Organizational commitment 15~105 39 103 84.55±15.95 1~7 5.64
Table 3.
Correlation among Posttraumatic Growth, Posttraumatic Stress, Resilience, Family Cohesion, Organizational Commitment (N=186)
Variables Posttraumatic growth Posttraumatic stress Resilience Family cohesion
r (p) r (p) r (p) r (p)
Posttraumatic stress −.02 (.805)      
Resilience .28 (<.001) −.33 (<.001)    
Family cohesion .22 (.003) −.01 (.857) .43 (<.001)  
Organizational commitment .52 (<.001) −.32 (<.001) .40 (<.001) .26 (<.001)
Table 4.
Influencing Factors on Posttraumatic Growth (N=186)
Variables B SE β t p
Family cohesion 0.61 0.30 .15 2.03 .044
Organizational commitment 0.66 0.07 .61 9.19 <.001
Gender 11.93 5.21 .16 2.29 .023
Amount of work experience in current field 0.63 0.19 .28 3.35 .001

Adj. R2=.43, R2=.48, F=9.24, p<.001

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