Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society

Firefighters are exposed to elevated levels of potentially traumatizing events through the course of their work. Suchexposure can have lasting negative consequences (e.g., posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)) and/or positive outcomes(e.g., posttraumatic growth (PTG)). Research had implicated trauma, occupational and personal variables that account forvariance in posttrauma outcomes yet at this stage no research has investigated these factors and their relative influenceon both PTSD and PTG in a single study. Based in Calhoun and Tedeschi’s model of PTG and previous research, in thisstudy regression models of PTG and PTSD symptoms among 610 firefighters were tested. Results indicated organisationalfactors predicted symptoms of PTSD, while there was partial support for the hypothesis that coping and social supportwould be predictors of PTG. Increases in PTG were predicted by experiencing trauma from multiple sources and the useof selfcare coping.