Document Type
Article
Publication Date
6-8-2022
Journal / Book Title
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
Abstract
The aim of this study was to investigate whether two emotion regulation strategies, expressive suppression or cognitive reappraisal, mediated the development of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), major depression (MD), and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) in first responders (FR) who experienced occupational stressors, using cross-sectional data. An aggregate of 895 first responders (M = 37.32, SD = 12.09, 59.2% male, 91.3% Caucasian) who were recruited through professional organizations and social media sites across North and South American states participated in an online Qualtrics survey. Bivariate correlation analyses demonstrated that occupational stressors were positively correlated with expressive suppression and each mental health outcome but were not significantly correlated with cognitive reappraisal. Mediation analyses demonstrated expressive suppression as a significant mediator between occupational stressors and PTSD, MD, and GAD symptoms, but not cognitive reappraisal. Even though these findings are in purview of a cross-sectional research design, they suggest the importance of practices that bolster first responders’ ability to use more effective and adaptive emotion regulation strategies such as emotion expression, effective communication, and cognitive reappraisal that might help enhance psychological resilience.
DOI
10.3390/ijerph19127009
MSU Digital Commons Citation
Kshtriya, Sowmya; Lawrence, Jacqueline; Kobezak, Holly M.; Popok, Paula J.; and Lowe, Sarah, "Investigating Strategies of Emotion Regulation As Mediators of Occupational Stressors and Mental Health Outcomes in First Responders" (2022). Department of Psychology Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works. 745.
https://digitalcommons.montclair.edu/psychology-facpubs/745
Rights
© 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Published Citation
Kshtriya, S., Lawrence, J., Kobezak, H. M., Popok, P. J., & Lowe, S. (2022). Investigating Strategies of Emotion Regulation As Mediators of Occupational Stressors and Mental Health Outcomes in First Responders. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(12), 7009. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19127009