Secondary Traumatization and Related Psychological Outcomes in Firefighters

¹This paper has been presented as a poster in the 30th ECNP Congress, 2017, Paris, France, and published in the supplementary: Bastug G., Ergul Topcu A., Ergun O.F., Ozel-Kizil E.T., “Secondary Traumatisation and Some Related Outcomes in Firefighters,” 30th ECNP Congress, 02–05 September 2017, Paris, France. European Neuropsychopharmacology.

Abstract

The current study aimed to investigate the rate of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as well as the relationship between PTSD and depressive symptoms, burnout, and life satisfaction in Turkish firefighters. A cohort of 100 male firefighters (mean age 45.12, SD = 9.72) working at different centers participated in the study. Results showed that firefighters had a high rate (40%) of PTSD according to DSM-IV criteria. Firefighters with PTSD also had higher burnout in terms of emotional exhaustion, higher depression, and poor life satisfaction. Psychological and occupational interventions are crucial to prevent such disturbances in risky groups like firefighters.

Keywords:

• Posttraumatic stress disorder
• secondary traumatization
• burnout
• firefighters

Notes

¹This paper has been presented as a poster in the 30th ECNP Congress, 2017, Paris, France, and published in the supplementary: Bastug G., Ergul Topcu A., Ergun O.F., Ozel-Kizil E.T., “Secondary Traumatisation and Some Related Outcomes in Firefighters,” 30th ECNP Congress, 02–05 September 2017, Paris, France. European Neuropsychopharmacology.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Gulbahar Bastug

Gulbahar Bastug, PhD, is an associate professor in clinical psychology at Ankara University Vocational School of Health. Her research interests include psychopathology within adulthood.

Aysun Ergul-Topcu

Aysun Ergul Topcu, having a bachelor's degree in social anthropology and an MSc degree in social psychology, received her PhD degree from the Social Psychology Program of Ankara University in 2016. Her research interests include family relations, parenthood, child development, and peer bullying. She is currently working at a managerial position at Ankara University.

E. Tugba Ozel-Kizil

E. Tugba Ozel-Kizil is a professor of adult psychiatry at Ankara University School of Medicine. Her research interests include neuropsychiatry.

O. Furkan Ergun

Osman Furkan Ergun is an Emergency and Disaster Manager. He is a lecturer at Ankara University Vocational School of Health, First Aid and Emergency Program. Since 2017, he has been studying disaster management at Dokuz Eylül University, Institute of Social Sciences.