IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsoctx/v13y2023i9p206-d1235442.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Posttraumatic Stress and Somatic Symptoms in Firefighters: A Mediation Analysis of the Impact of Potentially Traumatic Events

Author

Listed:
  • Joana Proença Becker

    (Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Coimbra, 3000-115 Coimbra, Portugal)

  • Rui Paixão

    (Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Coimbra, 3000-115 Coimbra, Portugal)

  • Patrícia Correia-Santos

    (School of Psychology, University of Minho, 4710-057 Braga, Portugal)

  • Manuel João Quartilho

    (Faculty of Medicine, University of Coimbra, 3000-548 Coimbra, Portugal)

Abstract

Firefighters are considered a high-risk group for developing stress-related psychopathologies, such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), due to repeated exposure to potentially traumatic events (PTE). Studies have indicated that PTE is also associated with the development of Somatic Symptom Disorder (SSD). However, the occurrence of this condition among firefighters is an underexplored topic. This study aimed to assess the relationships between PTE and PTSD symptoms, and the relationship between PTE and SSD symptoms. Furthermore, we aimed to assess the role of SSD in the relationship between PTE and PTSD within Portuguese firefighters who battled the 2017 violent forest fires. To this end, a sample of 116 firefighters (75% male) completed self-report measures of posttraumatic symptoms, somatic symptoms, and other psychopathological symptoms. Contrary to several literature, in the present study, neither PTSD nor SSD symptoms seem to be correlated with any sociodemographic characteristics. However, the exposure to PTE is positively correlated with both PTSD and SSD symptoms. Furthermore, SSD seems to act as a mediator in the relationship between PTE and PTSD.

Suggested Citation

  • Joana Proença Becker & Rui Paixão & Patrícia Correia-Santos & Manuel João Quartilho, 2023. "Posttraumatic Stress and Somatic Symptoms in Firefighters: A Mediation Analysis of the Impact of Potentially Traumatic Events," Societies, MDPI, vol. 13(9), pages 1-9, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsoctx:v:13:y:2023:i:9:p:206-:d:1235442
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4698/13/9/206/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4698/13/9/206/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsoctx:v:13:y:2023:i:9:p:206-:d:1235442. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.