Work-related stress and posttraumatic stress in emergency medical services

Prehospital Emergency Care

Volumn 16, Issue 1, 2012, Pages 76-85

  Donnelly, Elizabeth ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF WINDSOR   (Canada)

Author keywords

emergency medical services; mental health; stress disorders, posttraumatic; stress, psychological; workplace

Indexed keywords

ADAPTIVE BEHAVIOR; ADULT; ARTICLE; DRINKING BEHAVIOR; EMERGENCY HEALTH SERVICE; ETHNOLOGY; FACTORIAL ANALYSIS; FEMALE; HUMAN; MALE; MENTAL HEALTH; MENTAL STRESS; OCCUPATIONAL DISEASE; OCCUPATIONAL EXPOSURE; POSTTRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER; PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECT; PSYCHOMETRY; REGRESSION ANALYSIS; RISK FACTOR; STATISTICS; UNITED STATES; WORKPLACE;

ADAPTATION, PSYCHOLOGICAL; ADULT; ALCOHOL DRINKING; EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES; FACTOR ANALYSIS, STATISTICAL; FEMALE; HUMANS; MALE; MENTAL HEALTH; OCCUPATIONAL DISEASES; OCCUPATIONAL EXPOSURE; PSYCHOMETRICS; REGRESSION ANALYSIS; RISK FACTORS; STATISTICS AS TOPIC; STRESS DISORDERS, POST-TRAUMATIC; STRESS, PSYCHOLOGICAL; UNITED STATES; WORKPLACE;

EID: 82555185047     PISSN: 10903127     EISSN: 15450066     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.3109/10903127.2011.621044     Document Type: Article

References (66)

1. Regehr C, Goldberg G, Hughes J. Exposure to human tragedy, empathy, and trauma in ambulance paramedics. Am J Orthopsychiatry. 2002;72:505-13. (Pubitemid 36885840)
2. Cydulka RK, Emerman CL, Shade B, Kubincanek J. Stress levels in EMS personnel: a national survey. Prehosp Disaster Med. 1997;12:136-40.
3. van der Ploeg E, Kleber RJ. Acute and chronic job stressors among ambulance personnel: predictors of health symptoms. Occup Environ Med. 2003;60:40-6.
4. Patterson PD, Huang DT, Fairbanks RJ, Simeone S, Weaver M, Wang HE. Variation in emergency medical services workplace safety culture. Prehosp Emerg Care. 2010;14:448-60.
5. Isenberg DL, Van Gelder CM. Occupational illness and injury in prehospital care personnel. In: Greenberg MI, ed. Occupational Emergency Medicine. Oxford, UK: Wiley-Blackwell, 2011, pp 162-74.
6. Sterud T, Ekeberg O, Hem E. Health status in the ambulance services: a systematic review. BMC Health Serv Res. 2006;6:82.
7. Boudreaux E, Mandry C. The effects of stressors on emergency medical technicians (part II): a critical review of the literature, and a call for further research. Prehosp Disaster Med. 1996;11:302-7; discussion 307-8.
8. Pearlin LI. The sociological study of stress. J Health Soc Behav. 1989;30:241-56. (Pubitemid 19238452)
9. Young KM, Cooper CL. Occupational stress in the ambulance service: a diagnostic study. Health Manpower Manage. 1997;23 (4-5): 140-7.
10. Beaton RD, Murphy S, Pike K. Work and nonwork stressors, negative affective states and pain complaints among firefighters and paramedics. Int J Stress Manage. 1996;3:223-37. (Pubitemid 126729832)
11. Regehr C, Millar D. Situation critical: high demand, low control, and low support in paramedic organizations. Traumatology. 2007;13:49-58.
12. Sterud T, Hem E, Lau B, Ekeberg O. A comparison of general and ambulance specific stressors: predictors of job satisfaction and health problems in a nationwide one-year follow-up study of Norwegian ambulance personnel. J Occup Med Toxicol. 2011;6(1):10.
13. Alexander DA, Klein S. Ambulance personnel and critical incidents: impact of accident and emergency work on mental health and emotional well-being. Br J Psychiatry. 2001;178:76-81. (Pubitemid 32055650)
14. Beaton RD, Murphy SA, Pike KC, Corneil W. Social support and network conflict in firefighters and paramedics. West J Nurs Res. 1997;19:297-313. (Pubitemid 127459709)
15. Bennett P, Williams Y, Page N, Hood K, Woollard M, Vetter N. Associations between organizational and incident factors and emotional distress in emergency ambulance personnel. Br J Clin Psychol. 2005;44:215-26. (Pubitemid 40873435)
16. Clohessy S, Ehlers A. PTSD symptoms, response to intrusive memories and coping in ambulance service workers. Br J Clin Psychol. 1999;38:251-65. (Pubitemid 29435633)
17. Mitchell JT. When disaster strikes...the critical incident stress debriefing process. JEMS. 1983;8(1):36-9.
18. Marmar CR, Weiss DS, Metzler TJ, Delucchi KL, Best SR, Wentworth KA. Longitudinal course and predictors of continuing distress following critical incident exposure in emergency services personnel. J Nerv Ment Dis. 1999;187:15-22. (Pubitemid 29063080)
19. Mishra S, Goebert D, Char E, Dukes P, Ahmed I. Trauma exposure and symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder in emergency medical services personnel in Hawaii. Emerg Med J. 2010;27:708-11.
20. Gallagher S, McGilloway S. Experience of critical incident stress among ambulance service staff and relationship to psychological symptoms. Int J Emerg Ment Health. 2009;11:235-48.
21. Donnelly EA, Siebert DC. Occupational risk factors in the emergency medical services. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2009;24:428-35.
22. National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians. Committed to EMS: Now and in the Future: Annual Report. Columbus, OH: NREMT, 2010.
23. Brown WE, Dickison PD, Misselbeck WJA, Levine R. Longitudinal Emergency Medical Technician Attribute and Demographic Study (LEADS): an interim report. Prehosp Emerg Care. 2002;6:433-9.
24. Fiellin DA, Reid MC, O'Connor PG. Screening for alcohol problems in primary care: a systematic review Arch Intern Med. 2000;160:1977-89. (Pubitemid 30437582)
25. Reinert DF, Allen JP. The Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT): a review of recent research. Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 2002;26:272-9. (Pubitemid 34157764)
26. Bohn MJ, Babor TF, Kranzler HR. The Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT): validation of a screening instrument for use in medical settings. J Stud Alcohol Drugs. 1995;56:423-32.
27. Connors GJ, Volk RJ. Self report screening for alcohol problems among adults. In: Allen JP, Wilson VB (eds). Assessing Alcohol Problems: A Guide for Clinicans and Researchers. 2nd ed. Bethesda, MD: National Institutes for Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, 2003, pp 21-35.
28. Babour TF, Higgins-Biddle JC, Saunders JB, Monteiro MG. AU-DIT: The Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test: Guidelines for Use in Primary Care. 2nd ed. Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization, 2001.
29. Reinert DF, Allen JP. The Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test: an update on research findings. Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 2007;31:185-99. (Pubitemid 46155217)
30. Davey JD, Obst PL, Sheehan MC. Developing a profile of alcohol consumption patterns of police officers in a large scale sample of an Australian police service. Eur Addict Res. 2000;6:205-12. (Pubitemid 32008821)
31. Davey JD, Obst PL, Sheehan MC. It goes with the job: officers' insights into the impact of stress and culture on alcohol consumption within the policing occupation Drugs Educ Prev Policy. 2001;8:141-9.
32. Sterud T, Erlend H, Ekeberg O, Lau B. Occupational stress and alcohol use: a study of two nationwide samples of operational police and ambulance personnel in Norway. J Stud Alcohol Drugs. 2007;68:896-904. (Pubitemid 350144499)
33. Violanti JM. Predictors of police suicide ideation. Suicide Life Threat Behav. 2004;34:277-83. (Pubitemid 39336899)
34. Weathers FW, Litz BT, Herman DS, Huska JA, Keane TM. The PTSD Checklist (PCL): reliability, validity, and diagnostic utility. Presented at: International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies annual meeting, San Antonio, TX, 1993.
35. Sutker PB, Davis JM, Uddo M, Ditta SR. War zone stress, personal resources, and PTSD in Persian Gulf War returnees. J Abnorm Psychol. 1995;104:444-52.
36. Thompson KE, Vasterling JJ, Benotsch EG, et al. Early symptom predictors of chronic distress in Gulf War veterans. J Nerv Ment Dis. 2004;192:146-52. (Pubitemid 38248906)
37. Sutker PB, Uddo M, Brailey K, Allain AN, Errera P. Psychological symptoms and psychiatric diagnoses in Operation Desert Storm troops serving graves registration duty. J Trauma Stress. 1994;7:159-71. (Pubitemid 24256292)
38. Asmundson GJG, Stein MB, Mccreary DR. Posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms influence health status of deployed peacekeepers and nondeployed military personnel. J Nerv Ment Dis. 2002;190:807-15. (Pubitemid 35477534)
39. McCreary DR, Thompson MM. Development of two reliable and valid measures of stressors in policing: the Operational and Organizational Police Stress Questionnaires. Int J Stress Manage. 2006;13:494-518. (Pubitemid 44877977)
40. Weiss DS, Brunet A, Best SR, et al. Frequency and severity approaches to indexing exposure to trauma: the Critical Incident History Questionnaire for police officers. J Trauma Stress. 2010;23:734-43.
41. Donnelly EA. Occupationally related stress exposures and stress reactions in the emergency medical services [dissertation]. Tallahassee, FL: College of Social Work, Florida State University, 2010.
42. Turner RJ, Wheaton B. Checklist measurement of stressful life events. In: Gordon L, Cohen S, Kessler R, eds. Measuring Stress: A Guide for Health and Social Scientists. New York: Oxford University Press, 1995, pp 59-79.
43. Hu L, Bentler PM. Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis: conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Structural Equation Modeling. 1999;6(1):1-55.
44. Bentler PM, Bonett DG. Significance tests and goodness of fit in the analysis of covariance structures. Psychol Bull. 1980;88:588-606.
45. Steiger JH. Understanding the limitations of global fit assessment in structural equation modeling. Pers Indiv Differ. 2007;42:893-8.
46. Cronbach LJ. Coefficient alpha and the internal structure of tests. Psychometrika. 1951;16:297-334.
47. Nunnally JC, Bernstein IH. Psychometric Theory. 3rd ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1994.
48. National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians. Demographic Summary: Longitudinal Emergency Medical Technician Attributes and Demographics Study. Columbus, OH: NREMT, 2006.
49. Brown WE, Dawson DA, Levine R. Compensation, benefits, and satisfaction: the Longitudinal Emergency Medical Technician Attributes and Demographic Study (LEADS) project. Prehosp Emerg Care. 2003;7:357-62. (Pubitemid 36859236)
50. Studnek JR, Fernandez AR. Characteristics of emergency medical technicians involved in ambulance crashes. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2008;23:432-7.
51. Brown SL, Hook JV, Glick JE. Generational differences in cohabitation and marriage in the US. Popul Res Policy Rev. 2008;27:531-50.
52. Cohen S, Kamarck T, Mermelstein R. A global measure of perceived stress. J Health Soc Behav. 1983;24:385-96.
53. Lowery K, Stokes MA. Role of peer support and emotional expression on posttraumatic stress disorder in student paramedics. J Trauma Stress. 2005;18:171-9. (Pubitemid 46422009)
54. Bennett P, Williams Y, Page N, Hood K, Woollard M. Levels of mental health problems among UK emergency ambulance workers. Emerg Med J. 2004;21:235-6. (Pubitemid 38344646)
55. Kessler RC, Berglund P, Demler O, Jin R, Merikangas KR, Walters EE. Lifetime prevalence and age-of-onset distributions of DSM-IV disorders in the National Comorbidity Survey Replication. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2005;62:593-602. (Pubitemid 40973434)
56. Kessler RC, Sonnega A, Bromet E, Hughes M, Nelson CB. Posttraumatic stress disorder in the National Comorbidity Survey. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1995;52:1048-60.
57. Field CA, Claassen CA, O'Keefe G. Association of alcohol use and other high-risk behaviors among trauma patients. J Trauma. 2001;50:13-9. (Pubitemid 32124943)
58. Spain DA, Boaz PW, Davidson DJ, Miller FB, Carrillo EH, Richardson JD. Risk-taking behaviors among adolescent trauma patients. J Trauma. 1997;43:423-6. (Pubitemid 27415430)
59. Swahn MH, Simon TR, Hammig BJ, Guerrero JL. Alcoholconsumption behaviors and risk for physical fighting and injuries among adolescent drinkers. Addict Behav. 2004;29:959-63. (Pubitemid 38822953)
60. Stewart SH. Alcohol abuse in individuals exposed to trauma: a critical review. Psychol Bull. 1996;120:83-112. (Pubitemid 126447650)
61. Pihl RO, Stewart SH. Substance abuse and behavioral pathology: a commentary. Annu Rev Addict Res Treatment. 1991;1:153-6.
62. Maunder RG, Halpern J, Schwartz B, Gurevich M. Symptoms and responses to critical incidents in paramedics who have experienced childhood abuse and neglect. Emerg Med J. 2011; Mar. 21 (Epub ahead of print).
63. Otte C, Neylan TC, Pole N, et al. Association between childhood trauma and catecholamine response to psychological stress in police academy recruits. Biol Psychiatry. 2005;57(1):27-32. (Pubitemid 39647588)
64. Nederhof AJ. Methods of coping with social desirability bias: a review. Eur J Soc Psychol. 1984;15:263-80.
65. Paulhus DL. Measurement and control of response bias. In: Robinson JP, Shaver PR, Wrightsman LS (eds). Measures of Personality and Social Psychological Attitudes. New York: Academic Press, 1991, pp 17-59.
66. Coughlin SS. Recall bias in epidemiologic studies. J Clin Epidemiol. 1990;43:1431-2.