Higher sense of coherence is associated with better mental and physical health in emergency medical services: results from investigations on the revised sense of coherence scale (SOC-R) in rescue workers. Issue 1 (31st December 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Behnke, Alexander; Conrad, Daniela; Kolassa, Iris-Tatjana; Rojas, Roberto
• Is Part Of: European journal of psychotraumatology. Volume 10:Issue 1(2019)
• Publication Date: 2019-12-31
• Subjects: Revised sense of coherence scale (SOC-R) -- resilience -- PTSD -- depression -- somatic symptoms -- emergency medical service -- occupational stress and health -- paramedics -- ambulance workers -- first responders; Escala del sentido de coherencia revisado (SOC-R) -- resiliencia -- TEPT -- depresión -- síntomas somáticos -- servicio médico de emergencia -- estrés laboral y salud -- paramédicos -- trabajadores de ambulancias primeros respondedores; 修订版心理一致感量表（SOC-R） -- 韧性 -- PTSD -- 抑郁 -- 躯体症状 -- 紧急医疗服务 -- 职业压力与健康 -- 医护人员 -- 救护人员 -- 现场应急人员; Post-traumatic stress disorder -- Periodicals; Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic; Post-traumatic stress disorder; Electronic journals; Periodicals; Periodicals; Fulltext; Internet Resources; Periodicals; 616.8521
• DOI: 10.1080/20008198.2019.1606628
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2000-8198

Abstract

ABSTRACT: As rescue workers are regularly confronted with potentially traumatising on-duty events, they have an increased risk to develop trauma-related mental and physical health impairments, including post-traumatic, depressive, and somatic symptoms. For this high-risk group, it could be of particular importance to experience their occupational burden as manageable, meaningful, and coherent. This mindset – called sense of coherence – may be a potential resilience factor against the development of mental and physical health problems. In a cross-sectional cohort of 102 rescue workers ( Mdn ( QD )age = 26.0 (8.5), age range: 18−61), including 36 women, we investigated whether higher values on the Revised Sense of Coherence Scale (SOC-R) predicted lower post-traumatic, depressive, and somatic symptoms. In addition, we evaluated the factor structure of the SOC-R using confirmatory factor analyses. Linear regressions indicated that higher SOC-R, but particularly manageability scores were associated with less post-traumatic (β = −.31, p = .009), depressive (β = −.44, p < .001), and somatic symptoms (β = −.36, p = .002). Furthermore, we found that all symptom scores significantly increased with occupational and private-life trauma exposure. The SOC-R's factor structure was replicated, comprising the three subscales manageability, reflection, and balance. However, the SOC-R's convergent factor validity was rather low in the present sample. Taken together, a high sense of coherence, and in particular a high manageability conviction, was observed as resilience factors for high-risk groups that are frequently exposed to potentially traumatic events. Future studies might investigate whether strengthening the sense of coherence could be one building block in an effective prevention program for maintaining long-term health in risk groups. HIGHLIGHTS: The Revised Sense of Coherence scale displayed poor convergent factor validity in German rescue workers. Higher sense of coherence, but particularly the manageability conviction was associated with less mental and physical complaints in rescue workers. On-duty and private-life trauma exposure were associated with more mental and physical health impairments. Longitudinal studies are necessary to confirm whether the revised sense of coherence is a prospective resilience factor against stress and trauma in high-risk professions.