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PTSD in Paramedics: Resilience and Sense of Coherence

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 May 2013

Markus Streb ,
Pascal Häller  and
Tanja Michael
Markus Streb
Affiliation:
Saarland University, Saarbrücken, Germany
Pascal Häller
Affiliation:
Saarland University, Saarbrücken, Germany
Tanja Michael*
Affiliation:
Saarland University, Saarbrücken, Germany
*
Reprint requests to Tanja Michael, Saarland University, Campus, D-66123 Saarbrücken, Germany. E-mail: t.michael@mx.uni-saarland.de
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Abstract

Background: Paramedics are frequently subjected to traumatic experiences and have higher PTSD prevalence rates than people in the general population. However, the vast majority of paramedics do not develop PTSD. While several risk factors for PTSD have been established, little is known about protective factors. It has been suggested that a good sense of coherence (SOC) and high resilience lower the risk for developing PTSD. Aims: To examine whether SOC and resilience are associated with PTSD severity in paramedics. Method: A cross-sectional study investigated SOC, resilience and PTSD in paramedics (N = 668). PTSD was assessed with the Posttraumatic Stress Diagnostic Scale (PDS); resilience and SOC were measured with the Resilience Scale (RS-11) and the Sense of Coherence Scale (SOC-L9). Further measures included preparation of dealing with traumatic events and availability of psychological help. Results: As expected, both resilience and SOC were negatively correlated with PTSD symptoms. The regression analysis showed that 19.2% of the total variance in symptom severity was explained by these variables. However, SOC was a better predictor than resilience for PTSD severity, as it accounted for more unique variance. Paramedics who were prepared for dealing with work-related traumatic events and who received psychological help had less severe PTSD symptoms and higher SOC scores than paramedics for whom these services were not available. Conclusions: Enhancing resilience, and especially SOC, seems a promising approach to reduce PTSD symptom severity in high risk groups like paramedics.

Keywords

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)paramedicsresiliencesense of coherencepsychological resistance
Type
Research Article
Information
Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy , Volume 42 , Issue 4 , July 2014 , pp. 452 - 463
Copyright
Copyright © British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies 2013 

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