Gender differences in fire fighter job stressors and symptoms of stress

This study described gender differences in fire fighter appraisal of job stressors and symptoms of stress. A sample of 670 male and 41 female fire fighters responded to an anonymous mail survey consisting of three standardized and investigator-developed questionnaires. Male and female fire fighter respondents were more similar than different on both job stressor and symptoms of stress measures. Five job stressors were ranked the most "bothersome" by both males and females during the last 10 shifts worked. These were: sleep disturbance, wage/benefit concerns, job skill concerns, substandard equipment, and safety concerns. Of these five job stress factors, only one gender difference was noted. Female fire fighters reported significantly higher scores than males on job skill concerns. Job discrimination reported by female respondents was significantly higher than for males (t = 3.51, p < .0001) even though it was not ranked among the five most stressful factors. Partial correlations computed between job stressors and symptoms of stress, while controlling for the number of years as a fire fighter, were of moderately high magnitude for both genders and similar to simple correlations computed. These results suggest that the number of years of service did not account for gender differences reported.     

Stressful life events, psychological distress, coping, and parenting of divorced mothers: A longitudinal study.

This was a prospective longitudinal study of the relationships among life stress, psychological distress, coping, and parenting behaviors in a sample of divorced custodial mothers. First, the differential effects of major events and daily stressors on psychological distress and parenting were explored. Second, the mediational links among stress, distress, and 3 dimensions of parenting behaviors were studied. Third, 3 coping strategies were studied as moderators of the relationship between distress and parenting. The results showed that both major and small events had significant effects on parental distress, with the effects of daily negative events being greater than those of major events. Parental distress mediated the relationships between stressful life events and parental acceptance of their children's behaviors. Parental coping strategies moderated the relationship between mothers' psychological distress and mothers' discipline practice. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Stress, family environment, and multiple substance use among seventh graders.

Evaluated the Guttman-scaled nicotine, alcohol, cannabis (marihuana), and multiple substance use in relation to measures of major life stressors, daily hassles, family cohesion, conflict and expressiveness, coping, and anxiety among 425 7th graders. Instruments included the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. Major life stressors, family cohesion, and the subjective distress of daily hassles contributed significantly in stepwise regression analyses for nicotine, cannabis, and multiple substance use. For alcohol use, major life stressors and family conflict were significant. In the case of cannabis and multiple substance use, a moderating interaction of family cohesion and life stress was obtained. Identified as multiple substance users reported high rates of occurrence of a number of life stressors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Alcohol Use Disorders and Psychological Distress: A Prospective State-Trait Analysis.

The present study examined the association between alcohol use disorders (AUDs) and psychological distress over an 11-year period using a sample of 378 young adults (46% men, 54% women: baseline age = 18.5; 51% with paternal history of alcoholism). The authors examined this relation using a state-trait model, which decomposes variance in a given construct into a general traitlike factor that spans measurement occasion and more situational, occasion-specific variability. Trait AUD and trait distress were correlated (r = .43), suggesting that the tendency to meet criteria for an AUD is associated with the tendency to experience psychological distress. Much of this association was due to 3rd variables (primarily neuroticism but also childhood stressors and behavioral undercontrol), supporting a common 3rd-variable influence model of comorbidity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relations among parental alcoholism, eating disorders, and substance abuse in nonclinical college women: Additional evidence against the uniformity myth.

In an effort to examine the uniformity myth as it pertains to adult children of alcoholics (ACAs), the relationship of presence of parental alcoholism to eating disorder symptomatology and substance use in a nonclinical, female college sample was examined. In addition within-group differences among ACAs related to level of distress concerning parental alcohol use were examined. Parental alcoholism was not related to substance use and minimally related to eating disorder symptomatology. Level of distress differentiated among ACAs in terms of two eating disorder variables. The results add additional evidence to the notion that not all ACAs are alike and that not all suffer from psychological problems. Implications are discussed, and recommendations for future research are made. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Work stress and health

OBJECTIVES: This article describes work stress experienced by the employed population. It examines associations between job strain, job insecurity, physical demands, low co-worker support and low supervisor support, and four health outcomes: migraine, work injury, high blood pressure and psychological distress. DATA SOURCE: The data are from the household component of the 1994/95 National Population Health Survey conducted by Statistics Canada. Results are based on a sample of 9,023 employed Canadians aged 18 to 64. ANALYTICAL TECHNIQUES: Multivariate analyses were used to estimate associations between work stress and health problems, while controlling for other potential stressors. MAIN RESULTS: Among men, job strain was associated with migraine and psychological distress, and among women, with work injury. Job insecurity was associated with migraine among women. High physical demands were related to work injury in both sexes. Low co-worker support was related to migraine among men, and to work injury and psychological distress among women.     

Major life events and minor stressors: Identifying mediational links in the stress process.

Whether the relationship between major life events and distress is mediated through minor stressors was examined in three stress groups: those who (a) experienced the death of a spouse, (b) divorced, or (c) were the parent of a child with asthma. Each of these major stress groups was compared with a control group. Path analyses conducted by aggregating the data across major stress groups indicated that major life events exert both a direct influence on distress and an indirect influence through minor stressors. On the other hand, the nature of the mediational relation linking major life events with psychological distress through minor stressors was found to vary as a function of the major life stress situation under consideration. Methodological and theoretical implications for the study of stress processes are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychological impact of illness downturns: A comparison of new and chronic conditions.

Older adults (N?=?166) who had chronic arthritis, a chronic vision problem, new arthritis symptoms, or a new vision problem were compared with older adult controls on psychological distress and well-being. The psychological impacts of new versus chronic illness stressors, and stressors associated with arthritis versus vision loss, were examined. The chronic arthritis group had the greatest psychological distress, the least well-being, and the greatest self-reported pain. Results supported an additivity theory approach to chronic illness and not an anticipatory coping approach. Differences in level of pain accounted in part for elevations in distress but did not explain differences between groups in psychological well-being. Positive affect was found to be the indicator of well-being that best differentiated groups. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Asian immigrants and the stress process: a study of Koreans in Canada

The stress process paradigm is one of the most widely held perspectives in the sociology of mental health. While this model has been applied to a large number of research problems, relatively little work has examined whether the paradigm can assist in understanding the link between socially induced stressors and their consequences for the mental health of immigrants. In this paper, we employ a stress process formulation to examine the interplay among stressors, psychological and social resources, and psychological distress among a large sample of Korean immigrants living in Toronto, Canada. Data from a longitudinal study of over 600 respondents indicate that the stress process paradigm provides a useful perspective for understanding how chronic stressors associated with the immigration experience manifest themselves in psychological distress. Our results suggest that social and psychological resources have important deterrent effects on the experience of stressors and their subsequent distressful consequences. Ethnic social support and mastery are especially important factors in this process.     

Impairment and distress associated with relationship discord in a national sample of married or cohabiting adults.

The clinical importance of relationship discord was examined through evaluating the association between relationship discord and multiple measures of impairment and psychological distress in a population-based sample of married and cohabiting adults (N = 2,677). In comparison to people that were not in discordant relationships, individuals in discordant relationships reported greater social role impairment with relatives and friends and greater work role impairment. They also reported higher levels of general distress and poorer perceived health and were more likely to report suicide ideation. With the exception of suicide ideation, the associations between relationship discord and impairment and psychological distress remained significant when controlling for current mood, anxiety, and substance use disorders, suggesting that relationship discord is incrementally related to impairment and psychological distress over and above the effects of psychiatric disorders. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Angina pectoris and myocardial infarction

This investigation assessed the physical characteristics, functional capacities, and body composition of 45 professional fire fighters, aged 23 through 49 years. Maximum oxygen uptake (VO2), Recovery Oxygen Uptake, arm and leg strength, all showed a negative linear relationship with age. On the other hand, percent body fat increased with age from 18% to 21%. Hand grip strength did not decline significantly as the grip strength values remained fairly constant for all of the fire fighters. Most of the data collected were considered to be within the normal range of the sedentary North American population. It was concluded from these data that professional fire fighters might well benefit from a training program designed to develop and maintain a higher level of personal fitness.     

The association of parent behaviors, chronic pain, and psychological problems with venipuncture distress in infants: The Generation R study.

Objective: To examine the association of parent behavior with infant distress during a potentially painful medical procedure. A second aim was to investigate the association of parent chronic pain and psychological problems with parent behavior and infant distress during the procedure. Design: Population-based cohort study with both cross-sectional and prospective measurements. Main Outcome Measures: Video recordings of 275 parents and their 14-month-old infant undergoing venipuncture were coded with an observational instrument to yield measures of infant distress behaviors and parent behaviors, such as reassuring, showing empathy, praising, and distracting. Parent chronic pain and psychological problems were assessed through questionnaires. Results: Infants cried 58% of procedure duration. Parent reassuring occurred 34% of procedure duration, and parent distracting occurred 37% of procedure duration. Infant distress was positively related to parent reassuring and negatively related to parent praising. Parent chronic pain was related to increased parent distracting but not to parent reassuring. Parent psychological problems were not associated with parent behavior and infant distress. Conclusion: Parent behavior rather than psychological traits is related to increased venipuncture distress in young infants. This finding suggests that the focus should be on interventions based on behavior modification. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Are work stressors related to employee substance use? The importance of temporal context assessments of alcohol and illicit drug use.

In this study, the author explored the relations of 2 work stressors (work overload and job insecurity) to employee alcohol use and illicit drug use. The primary goal was to explore the importance of temporal context (before work, during the workday, and after work) in the assessment of substance use compared with context-free (overall) assessments. Data were collected from a national sample of U.S. workers (N = 2,790) who took part in a broad cross-sectional survey on workplace health and safety. Consistent with past research, the results fail to support a relation between work stressors and overall measures of alcohol and illicit drug use. However, the results support the relation of work stressors to alcohol and illicit drug use before work, during the workday, and after work. These results provide support for both the stress-induced substance use and stress response dampening propositions of the tension-reduction hypothesis. When exploring the work environment as a potential cause of employee substance use, these results underscore the importance of measures that assess alcohol and illicit drug use in terms of their temporal relation to the workday. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Stress and alcohol use: Moderating effects of gender, coping, and alcohol expectancies.

A stressor vulnerability model of stress-induced drinking was tested in a stratified random sample of 1,316 Black and White adult drinkers. Stressors were highly predictive of both alcohol use and drinking problems among men who relied on avoidant forms of emotion coping or held strong positive expectancies for alcohol's effects and accounted for more than 35% of the variance in alcohol use among the subgroup of men who were high in both vulnerability factors. In contrast, stressors were negatively related among men who were low in both and were unrelated among women regardless of their coping or expectancies. These findings suggest that tension reduction theories of alcohol use are overly broad and that individual characteristics must be considered to account for stress-related effects on alcohol use and abuse. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Correlates of intimate partner violence among male alcoholic patients.

Male-to-female partner violence was investigated in heterosexual couples with an alcoholic male partner. Partner violent (PV) alcoholic patients (n?=?183), when compared with nonviolent (NV) alcoholic patients (n?=?120), had more antisocial personality characteristics, greater alcohol problem severity, greater use of other drugs, higher relationship distress, and stronger beliefs in the link between alcohol consumption and relationship problems. Demographic factors did not account for these PV–NV differences. Relationship distress and alcohol problem severity had independent associations with partner violence. Relationship adjustment and drug use remained significantly associated with partner violence, whereas alcohol problem severity did not, after controlling for patient antisocial traits. Beliefs in the link between drinking and relationship problems were associated with partner violence independent of other clinical factors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Determinants of pain expression in hospitalized burn patients

This study examines the relationship between extent of injury, degree and type of psychological distress and self-report of pain in burn survivors. One hundred eighty burn patients were interviewed within 2 weeks of their burn trauma. Using a visual analogue scale to assess subjective pain and pain relief, and self-report measures of post-traumatic stress symptoms and general psychological distress, we assessed the relationship between PTSD symptoms, general distress and pain. Subjective pain was unrelated to sex, ethnicity, or total body surface area burned. The most important correlate of subjective pain was general psychological distress. Intrusive PTSD symptoms had no independent power to predict the variance in pain scores. However, among women, more severe avoidant symptoms were associated with greater subjective pain.     

Plasma pyridoxine deficiency is related to increased psychological distress in recently bereaved homosexual men

OBJECTIVE: Previous research has demonstrated that a theoretical model including measures of life stressors, social support, and coping style significantly predicts psychological distress. This study tested plasma pyridoxine (vitamin B6) deficiency status as a predictor of overall psychological distress and specific mood states in this model, controlling for HIV-1 serostatus. METHOD: Subjects included HIV-1+ (N = 76) and HIV-1- (N = 58) recently bereaved homosexual men. At baseline, subjects completed a battery of psychosocial questionnaires, together with a physical examination and venipuncture. The Profile of Mood States (POMS) provided measures of overall psychological distress as well as specific mood states. Pyridoxine deficiency status (a categorical measure of deficient vs. adequate status) was determined with a bioassay of erythrocyte aspartate aminotransferase activity. RESULTS: Pyridoxine deficiency was a significant predictor of increased overall psychological distress in this model, controlling for life stressors, social support, coping style, and HIV-1 serostatus. In post hoc analyses of specific mood state effects, pyridoxine deficiency status was significantly associated with increases in depressed, fatigued, and confused mood levels, but not with those of anxiety, anger, or vigor. DISCUSSION: These findings suggest that adequate pyridoxine status may be necessary to avert psychological distress in the setting of bereavement. Inasmuch as pyridoxine is a cofactor for 5-hydroxytryptophan decarboxylase--an enzyme in the biosynthesis pathway of serotonin--serotonin level in the brain is implicated as the mediating factor.     

Distributive justice, procedural justice, and psychological distress: The moderating effect of coworker support and work autonomy.

Recent research has demonstrated that the perception of injustice at work may increase psychological health-related problems. The purpose of this study is to examine the moderating effect of coworker support and work autonomy on the relationships between both distributive and procedural justice and psychological distress. Results, on the basis of responses to questionnaires given to 248 prison employees, show that coworker support moderates the relationships between both forms of justice and psychological distress. Specifically, these relationships are weakened when employees benefit from a high level of coworker support. Furthermore, work autonomy moderates the relationship between procedural justice and psychological distress but not the relationship between distributive justice and psychological distress. Thus, procedural injustice is less likely to increase psychological distress when the level of work autonomy is high. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social desirability, psychological distress, and consumer satisfaction with mental health treatment.

The purpose of the present study was to determine the strength of the relationship between social desirability, psychological distress, and consumer satisfaction with mental health treatment. More specifically, our goal was to assess whether socially desirable responding accounts for much more variance in reports of client satisfaction than in self-reports of psychological distress. The sample consisted of 82 clients in therapy at the Center for Eclectic Psychology, a clinic affiliated with a large francophone university. Subjects completed the Balanced Inventory of Desirable Responding, the Symptom Checklist-10, and the Client Satisfaction Questionnaire. Correlational analyses revealed that both consumer satisfaction reports and psychological distress scores were contaminated by socially desirable responding. These findings are discussed in terms of the validity of client satisfaction measures. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perceived coping as a mediator between attachment and psychological distress: A structural equation modeling approach.

This study examined perceived coping (perceived problem-solving ability and progress in coping with problems) as a mediator between adult attachment (anxiety and avoidance) and psychological distress (depression, hopelessness, anxiety, anger, and interpersonal problems). Survey data from 515 undergraduate students were analyzed using structural equation modeling. Results indicated that perceived coping fully mediated the relationship between attachment anxiety and psychological distress and partially mediated the relationship between attachment avoidance and psychological distress. These findings suggest not only that it is important to consider attachment anxiety or avoidance in understanding distress but also that perceived coping plays an important role in these relationships. Implications for these more complex relations are discussed for both counseling interventions and further research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)