Citation

Surgenor LJ, Snell DL, Dorahy MJ. J. Trauma. Stress 2015; 28(2): 162-166.

Affiliation

Department of Psychological Medicine, University of Otago, Christchurch, New Zealand.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2015, International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1002/jts.21991

PMID

25847416

Abstract

Understanding posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms in police first-responders is an underdeveloped field. Using a cross-sectional survey, this study investigated demographic and occupational characteristics, coping resources and processes, along with first-responder roles and consequences 18 months following a disaster. Hierarchical linear regression (N = 576) showed that greater symptom levels were significantly positively associated with negative emotional coping (β =.31), a communications role (β =.08) and distress following exposure to resource losses (β =.14), grotesque scenes (β =.21), personal harm (β =.14), and concern for significant others (β =.17). Optimism alone was negatively associated (β = -.15), with the overall model being a modest fit (adjusted R(2) =.39). The findings highlight variables for further study in police.

Language: en