The Menninger Clinic, Houston, TX, USA.
Department of Psychological, Health, and Learning Sciences, University of Houston, Houston, TX, USA.
Occup Med (Lond). 2019 Dec 31;69(8-9):577-585. doi: 10.1093/occmed/kqz057.
Little is known regarding the mental health of women firefighters.
To identify demographic, work-related and mental health characteristics associated with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms and lifetime suicidal ideation in female firefighters compared with male colleagues.
Participants were firefighters (75 women and 2564 men) employed in a large urban fire department in the USA. Chi-square, correlations, t-tests and analyses of variance were conducted to examine the predictors of PTSD symptoms and lifetime suicide ideation in men and women.
Approximately 20% of women scored positively for PTSD and 30% reported lifetime suicidal ideation. Women with PTSD symptoms were more likely to be in their mid-career years (11-20) than in their first 10 years (87% versus 44%; χ2 = 8.77, P < 0.05) and to have received counselling (53% versus 14%; χ2 = 8.11, P < 0.01). Being single (73% versus 58%; χ2 = 6.02, P < 0.05), having a second job (68% versus 38%; χ2 = 5.79, P < 0.05) and having received counselling (41% versus 11%; χ2 = 8.51, P < 0.01) predicted suicide ideation. Depression and general stress positively predicted PTSD symptoms and suicide ideation. PTSD also predicted suicide ideation.
Compared to male firefighters, women were at high risk for PTSD symptoms and suicide ideation. Particularly for women, few socio-demographic and work-related variables were associated with these outcomes. Mental health variables predicted depression and suicide ideation for both gender groups. Therefore, in screening and intervention efforts, it may be most fruitful to focus on mental health risk correlates of PTSD and suicide ideation.
关于女性消防员的心理健康知之甚少。
确定与创伤后应激障碍（PTSD）症状和女性消防员一生中自杀意念相关的人口统计学、工作相关和心理健康特征，与男性同事进行比较。
参与者为美国一家大型城市消防部门的消防员（75 名女性和 2564 名男性）。采用卡方检验、相关性分析、t 检验和方差分析，以检查男性和女性 PTSD 症状和终生自杀意念的预测因素。
约 20%的女性 PTSD 症状呈阳性，30%报告有过自杀意念。有 PTSD 症状的女性更有可能处于职业生涯中期（11-20 年），而不是职业生涯早期（87%比 44%；χ2=8.77，P<0.05），且接受过咨询（53%比 14%；χ2=8.11，P<0.01）。单身（73%比 58%；χ2=6.02，P<0.05）、从事第二份工作（68%比 38%；χ2=5.79，P<0.05）和接受过咨询（41%比 11%；χ2=8.51，P<0.01）预测自杀意念。抑郁和一般压力正向预测 PTSD 症状和自杀意念。PTSD 也预测自杀意念。
与男性消防员相比，女性患 PTSD 症状和自杀意念的风险较高。特别是对于女性，很少有社会人口统计学和工作相关变量与这些结果相关。心理健康变量预测了两组的抑郁和自杀意念。因此，在筛查和干预工作中，最有效的方法可能是关注 PTSD 和自杀意念的心理健康风险相关因素。
