Department of Public Health, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY, USA.
American Medical Response, Syracuse, NY, USA.
J Affect Disord. 2021 Mar 1;282:9-17. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2020.12.130. Epub 2020 Dec 28.
EMS personnel have a heightened risk of developing posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and major depression relative to other occupational populations necessitating a greater understanding of the risk and protective factors that operate each day in relation to this risk. This study examined dynamic psychosocial factors and their relationship with daily mental health symptoms among EMS workers. The psychosocial factors examined consisted of occupational stressors, sleep disturbance, social conflict, meaning made from the day's challenges, recovery activities, social support, and perceived prosocial impact.
Seventy-nine EMS workers recruited from an emergency medical service provider in Central New York completed a daily assessment for 8 days asking questions about occupational stressors encountered, sleep efficiency, social conflicts, meaning made from the day's challenges, recovery activities engaged in, social support received, and perceived prosocial impact.
Daily occupational stressors were associated with elevated daily PTSD symptom severity (b = 0.13, SE = 0.06, p = .023). Social conflicts were associated with greater depression symptom severity (b = 0.75, SE = 0.14, p < .001); the meaning made from day's stressors (b = -0.17, SE = 0.05, p = .002) and the recovery activities engaged in (b = -0.30, SE = 0.07, p < .001) were associated with lower daily depression symptom severity.
A relatively modest sample size and small sampling window may constrain the generalizations made from this study.
Occupational stressors and social conflicts are key risk factors related to the daily expression of PTSD and depression symptom severity in EMS workers. The meaning made from the day's challenges and the recovery activities engaged in may protect against depression. These results reveal several dynamic psychosocial factors that aid in understanding features of the work day that contribute to the mental health burden observed among EMS personnel.
与其他职业人群相比，急救人员罹患创伤后应激障碍（PTSD）和重度抑郁症的风险更高，因此需要深入了解每天影响这种风险的各种风险和保护因素。本研究旨在探讨急救人员日常动态心理社会因素与心理健康症状的关系。研究中所考察的心理社会因素包括职业压力源、睡眠障碍、社会冲突、从日常挑战中获得的意义、恢复活动、社会支持以及感知的亲社会影响。
本研究从纽约中部的一家紧急医疗服务提供商招募了 79 名急救人员，他们在 8 天内完成了每日评估，内容包括当天遇到的职业压力源、睡眠效率、社会冲突、从当天的挑战中获得的意义、参与的恢复活动、获得的社会支持以及感知的亲社会影响。
每日职业压力源与 PTSD 症状严重程度升高相关（b = 0.13，SE = 0.06，p = 0.023）。社会冲突与抑郁症状严重程度升高相关（b = 0.75，SE = 0.14，p < 0.001）；从日常压力源中获得的意义（b = -0.17，SE = 0.05，p = 0.002）和参与的恢复活动（b = -0.30，SE = 0.07，p < 0.001）与抑郁症状严重程度降低相关。
研究样本量相对较小且采样窗口较小，可能限制了本研究的推广。
职业压力源和社会冲突是与 EMS 工作人员 PTSD 和抑郁症状严重程度的日常表达相关的关键风险因素。从日常挑战中获得的意义和参与的恢复活动可以预防抑郁。这些结果揭示了一些动态心理社会因素，有助于了解导致 EMS 人员心理健康负担的工作日常特征。
