Developing and Evaluating an Online Post-Traumatic Growth Program for Firefighters

Abstract

We evaluated how an online post-traumatic growth program affected rumination, social support, and post-traumatic growth. We recruited 33 firefighters from two Korean provinces and employed a nonequivalent control group pretest-post-test design. We administered the pretest for the intervention group (n = 16), consisting of eight sessions with an online workbook and messenger group counseling. We conducted post-tests immediately after the program and 4 weeks later. Post-traumatic growth and social support increased significantly. There were no statistically significant differences for intrusive or deliberate rumination. Psychological support programs should be developed to reflect firefighters’ work characteristics and needs, including programs designed to induce rumination.

Clinical Trial No::

• KCT0007498

Disclosure statement

The authors report there are no competing interests to declare.

Data availability statement

The datasets used and analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported by a National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant funded by Korean government (MSIT, No. NRF-RS-2023-00209671).