Yonsei University Wonju College of Medicine, Wonju, Republic of Korea.
Department of Neuropsychiatry, Eulji University School of Medicine, Eulji University Hospital, Daejeon, Republic of Korea.
Compr Psychiatry. 2021 Aug;109:152250. doi: 10.1016/j.comppsych.2021.152250. Epub 2021 May 19.
Firefighters are often exposed to terrible and dangerous scenes due to their duties, and thus have a high risk of developing posttraumatic stress disorder(PTSD). The purpose of the study is to examine the relationship between PTSD symptoms, sleep problems, resilience and neurocognitive functioning of firefighters, and to identify the sequential mediating effects of sleep problems and resilience on the relationship between PTSD symptoms and neurocognitive functioning (especially psychomotor speed and processing speed).
Data were collected from 325 firefighters in eight fire departments in four regions of Korea. Subjects performed neurocognitive function tests and completed the following questionnaires: Primary Care PTSD Screening, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index-K and Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale-2. The correlation and dual mediation effects were analysed using SPSS 22.0 program and PROCESS macro 3.4 program.
PTSD symptoms, neurocognitive functioning, sleep problems and resilience were significantly correlated with each other. In the sequential mediation model, the relationship between PTSD and psychomotor speed/processing speed was sequentially mediated by sleep problems and resilience after adjusting for demographic variables.
The PTSD symptoms of firefighters were related to a sequential link between sleep problems, low resilience and decreased neurocognitive function. These findings could serve as a basis for more effective and integrated interventional strategies for facilitating better neurocognitive functioning in firefighters.
消防员因职责所在，经常置身于可怕和危险的场景中，因此患创伤后应激障碍（PTSD）的风险很高。本研究的目的是检验 PTSD 症状、睡眠问题、韧性与消防员神经认知功能之间的关系，并确定睡眠问题和韧性对 PTSD 症状与神经认知功能（尤其是心理运动速度和加工速度）之间关系的序列中介效应。
从韩国四个地区的八个消防部门的 325 名消防员中收集数据。受试者进行神经认知功能测试，并完成以下问卷：初级保健 PTSD 筛查、匹兹堡睡眠质量指数-K 和康纳-戴维森韧性量表-2。采用 SPSS 22.0 程序和 PROCESS 宏 3.4 程序分析相关性和双重中介效应。
PTSD 症状、神经认知功能、睡眠问题和韧性之间存在显著相关性。在序列中介模型中，在调整人口统计学变量后，PTSD 与心理运动速度/加工速度之间的关系被睡眠问题和韧性依次中介。
消防员的 PTSD 症状与睡眠问题、低韧性和神经认知功能下降之间存在序列联系。这些发现可以为促进消防员更好的神经认知功能的更有效和综合的干预策略提供依据。
