Predictors of postevent distress and growth among firefighters after work-related emergencies--A cross-national study.

Firefighters may experience posttraumatic stress symptomatology (i.e., postevent distress) as a consequence of exposure to work-related distressing incidents. However, positive psychological changes (i.e., postevent growth) should also be taken into account. The aim of this cross-national study was to investigate both postevent distress and growth in firefighters following distressing incidents. A sample of 1,916 firefighters from 8 predominantly European countries recalled a work-related distressing incident. Two hierarchical regression analyses were run to reveal predictors of postevent distress and growth, respectively. Predictors included person pre-event characteristics, objective (e.g., type of incident, time since incident, fatalities) and subjective (e.g., perceived life-threat, peri-event distress, most distressing aspect) incident features, and the participant's country. Postevent distress was measured by the Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R) and growth by the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory-Short Form (PTGI-SF). The final models explained 29% of the variation in postevent distress and 26% in growth. Postevent distress and growth were predicted by different variables. Country differences were found after controlling for all other variables. Further research is needed to explain these differences. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).