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Emergency stress: The impact of connectedness on perceived stress level in public safety professionals
Beeson, Jodie G.
Beeson, Jodie G.
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Dissertation
Adobe PDF, 375.54 KB
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2009-05
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Dissertation
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Electronic dissertations
Electronic dissertations
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Abstract
Stress related illness is one of the most critical health issues facing public safety
professionals today. Much of the research has focused on interventions such as critical
incident stress management and the provision of clinical and peer support to public
safety professionals after a problem has been identified. The current study focused on
identifying environmental factors that would increase resiliency to the harmful effects of
working in a highly stressful profession. It was hypothesized that a higher reported
sense of connectedness to and a sense of feeling needed and valued by community,
friends/family, and co-workers would predict lower perceived stress levels in public
safety professionals. Law enforcement officers, firefighters, detention personnel, and
civilian support staff (n=218) from four agencies in a large mid-western city participated
in an internet based questionnaire to determine participants stress levels using the
Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10) and levels of connectedness on nine predictors. The
model accounted for more than one third of the variance in participants’ perceived
stress levels. The participants’ connectedness to family/friends and community as well
as a sense of being needed and valued by co-workers accounted for the most variance
in the model.
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Thesis (Ph.D.)--Wichita State University, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Dept. of Psychology
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Wichita State University