Journal List > J Korean Acad Psychiatr Ment Health Nurs > v.26(2) > 1058109

Kwak and Bae: Posttraumatic Growth and Related Factors in Firefighters

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.

REFERENCES

1. American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (DSM-5). 5th ed.Kwon JS, translator. Washington, DC: Hakjisa;2013. p. 1038.
2. Jo MJ, Park JI, Bai A, Son JW, Ahn JH, Lee DW, et al. The epidemiological survey of mental disorders in Korea. Research and Service Report. Seoul: Ministry of Health and Welfare;2011. December. Report No. 7154646.
3. Kim YJ, Bae JY. Construction of a posttraumatic stress model for fire fighters. Journal of Korean Academy of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing. 2012; 21(4):282–291. https://doi.org/10.12934/jkpmhn.2012.21.4.282.
crossref
4. Kim HS, Nam CY, Lee HJ. Effects of post traumatic growth of firefighters-focused on the D-city fire official. Crisisonomy. 2014; 10(10):103–121.
5. Wagner D, Heinrichs M, Ehlert U. Prevalance of symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder in German professional firefighters. American Journal of Psychiatry. 1998; 155:1727–1732. https://doi.org/10.1176/ajp.155.12.1727.
6. Park YH, Park YM. A study on policy to relieve fire-fighting officers' occupational stress-focused on satisfaction for health camp. Korean Local Government Studies. 2013; 15(3):123–146.
7. Song SH. Reliability and validity of the Korean version of the posttraumatic growth inventory [master's thesis]. [Daejeon]: Chungnam National University. 2007; 91.
8. Tedeschi RG, Calhoun LG. The posttraumatic growth inventory: measuring the positive legacy of trauma. Journal of Traumatic Stress. 1996; 9(3):455–471.
crossref
9. Tedeschi RG, Calhoun LG. Posttraumatic growth: conceptual foundations and empirical evidence. Psychological Inquiry. 2004; 15(1):1–18. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327965pli1501_01.
10. Kim HJ, Kwon JH, Kim JN, Lee R, Lee KS. Posttraumatic growth and related factors in breast cancer survivors. Korean Journal of Health Psychology. 2008; 13(3):781–799. https://doi.org/10.17315/kjhp.2008.13.3.013.
11. Taku K. The role of rumination in the coexistence of distress and posttraumatic growth among bereaved Japanese university students. Death Studies. 2008; 32(5):428–444. https://doi.org/10.1080/07481180801974745.
crossref
12. Lee JA, Luxton DD, Reger GM, Gahm GA. Confirmatory factor analysis of the posttraumatic growth inventory with a sample of soldiers previously deployed in support of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Journal of Clinical Psychology. 2010; 66(7):813–819. https://doi.org/10.1002/jclp.20692.
crossref
13. Kleim B, Ehlers A. Evidence for a curvilinear relationship between posttraumatic growth and posttrauma psychopathology. Journal of Traumatic Stress. 2009; 22(1):45–52. https://doi.org/10.1002/jts.20378.
14. Nishi D, Matsuoka Y, Kim Y. Posttraumatic growth, posttraumatic stress disorder and resilience of motor vehicle accident survivors. BioPsychoSocial Medicine. 2010; 4(7):1–6. https://doi.org/10.1186/1751-0759-4-7.
crossref
15. Shin WY, Kim MG, Kim JH. Developing measures of resilience for Korean adolescents and testing cross, convergent and discriminant validity. Studies on Korean Youth. 2009; 20(4):105–131.
16. Kim YJ. Effects of professional identity, coping, & social support on posttraumatic growth [master's thesis]. [Seoul]: Korea University. 2011; 70.
17. Jung IM, Choi YK. The effect of intentional rumination and optimism on posttraumatic growth. Korean psychologial association annual conference. 2009 August 25-1; Yonsei University Daewoo Hall. Seoul: Korean Psychologial Association;2009. p. 278–279.
18. Yu HJ. The mediating effect of social support and deliberate rumination in the influence of resilience and distress perception on posttraumatic growth. Korean Journal of Counseling. 2014; 15(1):59–85. https://doi.org/10.15703/kjc.15.1.201402.59.
19. Jeong EK, Hah YS. The effect of ego-resiliency, social support, military life satisfaction on growth related military service in Korean veterans. Journal of Military Nursing Research. 2014; 32(1):53–65.
20. Yoon MS, Park EA. Posttraumatic growth among mental health social workers. Mental Health and Social Work. 2011; 39:61–89.
21. Lee SY. Qualitative study on posttraumatic growth found in North Korean female defectors: primarily based on cases where they have marriage experience during staying in China [dissertation]. [Seoul]: Konkuk University. 2014; 210.
22. Olson DH. Circumplex model VII: validation studies and FACES III. Family Process. 1986; 25(3):337–351. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1545-5300.1986.00337.x.
crossref
23. Mowday RT, Steers RM, Porter LW. The measurement of organizational commitment. Journal of Vocational Behavior. 1979; 14(2):224–247. https://doi.org/10.1016/0001-8791(79)90072-1.
crossref
24. Paton D. Posttraumatic growth in protective services professionals: individual, cognitive and organizational influences. Traumatology. 2005; 11(4):335–346. https://doi.org/10.1177/153476560501100411.
crossref
25. Horowitz M, Wilner N, Alvarez W. Impact of event scale: a measure of subjective stress. Psychosomatic Medicine. 1979; 41(3):209–218. https://doi.org/10.1097/00006842-197905000-00004.
crossref
26. Eun HJ, Kwon TW, Lee SM, Kim TH, Choi MR, Cho SJ. A study on reliability and validity of the Korean version of impact of event scale-revised. Journal of the Korean Neuropsychiatric Association. 2005; 44(3):303–310.
27. Jo KH, Song BS. Effect of family cohesion, subjective happiness and other factors on death anxiety in Korean elders. Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing. 2012; 42(5):680–688. https://doi.org/10.4040/jkan.2012.42.5.680.
crossref
28. Kim SK. Human behavior in organizations. 4th ed.Seoul: Myeongkyeongsa;2005. p. 552.
29. Bae JI, Kwak MY, Han DS, Jo SI, Bai CH. Visiting consultation room for firefighters. Research and Service Report. Busan: Inje University;2016 December.
30. Han SW, Kim HS. Factors influencing posttraumatic growth with police officer. Crisisonomy. 2015; 11(3):189–205.

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

TOOLS
Similar articles