The role of social support in the mental health of firefighters

Gasilci se skozi kariero soočajo s specifičnimi izzivi, zahtevami in nevarnostmi, kar vpliva na njihovo duševno zdravje. V magistrski nalogi smo se osredotočili na naslednje komponente duševnega zdravja: potravmatska rast, potravmatska stresna motnja, depresija, anksioznost, stres in pridobljena zmožnost za samomor. Želeli smo ugotoviti, kako se socialna opora in izpostavljenost kritičnim dogodkom povezujeta z omenjenimi vidiki duševnega zdravja. Prav tako smo proučevali razlike v duševnem zdravju in virih socialne opore med prostovoljnimi in poklicnimi gasilci ter gasilci, ki so hkrati prostovoljni in poklicni. Zanimalo pa nas je tudi, ali je socialna opora moderator v odnosu med izpostavljenostjo kritičnim dogodkom in potravmatsko rastjo. Podatke smo pridobili s pomočjo 232 gasilcev iz štirih poklicnih enot in šestih prostovoljnih društev, ki so reševali naslednje vprašalnike: Tabela kritičnih dogodkov, DASS-21, PTSD-8, ACSS-FAD, PTGI-SF, ISEL-12 in WHO-5. Ugotovili smo, da se socialna opora statistično pomembno negativno povezuje s potravmatsko stresno motnjo, z depresijo, anksioznostjo in s stresom ter pozitivno s pridobljeno zmožnostjo za samomor. Prav tako smo ugotovili, da je izpostavljenost kritičnim dogodkom statistično pomembno pozitivno povezana s potravmatsko rastjo, potravmatsko stresno motnjo in stresom. Nismo pa našli statistično pomembnih razlik v izraženosti komponent duševnega zdravja med poklicnimi in prostovoljnimi gasilci ter gasilci, ki so oboje. Smo pa ugotovili, da med njimi obstajajo razlike v številu virov opore. Prav tako nismo potrdili moderatorske vloge socialne opore v odnosu med intervencijami in potravmatsko rastjo.Throughout their career, firefighters face specific challenges, demands, and dangers, all of which have impact on their mental health. In this postgraduate thesis, attention has been given to the following constituents of mental health: posttraumatic growth, posttraumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety, stress, and acquired capability for suicide. Among the goals was to discover the manner in which social support and exposure to critical events are associated with the listed aspects of mental health. Moreover, the differences in mental health and sources of social support among volunteer and professional firefighters as well as firefighters that are both professional and volunteers have been examined. The thesis also observed whether social support is a facilitator in the relation between the exposure to critical events and the posttraumatic growth. The data have been gained from 232 firefighters from four professional fire departments and six volunteer fire departments. The subjects completed the following questionnaires: the Critical Events Table, DASS-21, PTSD-8, ACSS-FAD, PTGI-SF, ISEL-12, and WHO-5. In terms of statistical significance, the results show that social support is negatively associated with the posttraumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety, and stress, but positively associated with the acquired capability for suicide. Moreover, it has been revealed that in terms of statistical significance, the exposure to critical events is positively associated with the posttraumatic growth, posttraumatic stress disorder, and stress. However, no statistically significant differences have been found in the measured constituents of mental health among professional and volunteer firefighters, or among those who work both as professionals and volunteers. Nonetheless, differences among them in terms of the number of support sources have been found. The role of social support as a facilitator in the relation between interventions and posttraumatic growth has not been confirmed