Adaptation to chronic and traumatic stress in air rescue workers

Autor(en): Sommer, Isabelle Göttingen, 24. August 2005 Seiten: 128 Auflage: 1 Sprache: ISBN-10: 3865375669 ISBN-13: 9783865375667 Zugeordnete Fachbereiche: Psychologie Kategorie: Dissertation Bezugsmöglichkeiten Print Version 19,00 € 16,15 € In den Warenkorb eBook (843.4 kB) 19,00 € In den Warenkorb

Kurzbeschreibung

Professional “life savers”, such as rescue workers, must cope with extraordinary and persistent occupational demands. Personnel involved in air medical rescue are additionally exposed to flight risks. Several professional groups of rescuers have been identified as high-risk populations for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Gender is a well-known risk factor for PTSD, but it is not well researched in emergency services. The main aim was to contribute to a better understanding of the psychobiological adaptation of male and female air rescue workers to chronic stress and trauma. In recent years, research questions in studies of PTSD have seldom turned the focus of attention toward the detection of resilience factors. This direction of research corresponds with approaches such as Antonovsky’s salutogenic model and Diener’s research on happiness and subjective well-being. The main results from both studies described in this book lead to the conclusion that psychobiological adaptation to chronic stress and trauma was influenced by gender, age and years on duty. It was additionally shown that psychological factors might contribute to differences in biological adaptation even in the case of generally undisturbed functioning of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA)–axis. Sense of Coherence, self-esteem and self-efficacy, the presence of organizational and social resources and abstention from drug consumption were the factors which contributed to high subjective well-being and mental health. These factors also played a buffering role against the negative effects of the rescuers’ professional demands and exposure to traumatic events.