Extinguishing stigma : an examination of firefighter stress, social supports, and attitudes towards psychological help for behavioural health
department or school: Education, Faculty of
department or school: Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education (ECPS), Department of
data provider: DSpace
degree campus: UBCV
creator: Isaac, Gemma
issued: 2018-04-23T13:26:24Z
issued: 2018
related degree: Master of Arts - MA
degree grantor: University of British Columbia
description: Firefighters are exposed to high stress environments, often witnessing multiple traumatic events throughout their careers. Due to a number of recent suicides, unknown deaths, and line of duty deaths in the fire service, a call to examining firefighters’ psychological support and accessibility has become a priority in occupational health and safety. The primary objectives of this study were to investigate firefighter occupational stress, peer supports, and attitudes towards psychological help for behavioural health. Findings from the data collected from 254 firefighters from a large fire department in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia show that disruption of sleep, isolation from family due to work demands and stress, and upsetting thoughts about past runs were the top occupational stressors for firefighters. However, data suggest that these occupational stressors were mitigated by the levels of peer support received; that is, those who reported higher levels of peer support also reported lower levels of occupational stress. Survey data revealed firefighters are in support of seeing professional psychological help for behavioural health. Qualitative data provided insight on what firefighters deemed as helpful or challenging variables when connecting with support, while also providing suggestions for effective mental health supports. Implications of and recommendations from these findings are discussed.
aggregated CHO: https://circle.library.ubc.ca/rest/handle/2429/65573
note: Extinguishing Stigma: An Examination of Firefighter Stress, Social Supports, and Attitudes Towards Psychological Help for Behavioural Health by Gemma Isaac BMT, Capilano University, 2012 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS in THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE AND POSTDOCTORAL STUDIES (COUNSELLING PSYCHOLOGY) THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (VANCOUVER) April 2018 © Gemma Isaac, 2018 ii The following individuals certify that they have read, and recommend to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies for acceptance, the thesis entitled: Extinguishing Stigma: An examination of Firefighter Stress, Social Supports, and Attitudes Towards Psychological Help for Behavioural Health submitted by Gemma Isaac in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Counselling Psychology Examining Committee: Dr. Marla Buchanan, Professor, Counselling Psychology Supervisor Dr. Marv Westwood, Professor Emeritus, Counselling Psychology Supervisory Committee Member Norman Amundsen, Professor, Counselling Psychology Supervisory Committee Member iii Abstract Firefighters are exposed to high stress environments, often witnessing multiple traumatic events throughout their careers. Due to a number of recent suicides, unknown deaths, and line of duty deaths in the fire service, a call to examining firefighters’ psychological support and accessibility has become a priority in occupational health and safety. The primary objectives of this study were to investigate firefighter occupational stress, peer supports, and attitudes towards psychological help for behavioural health. Findings from the data collected from 254 firefighters from a large fire department in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia show that disruption of sleep, isolation from family due to work demands and stress, and upsetting thoughts about past runs were the top occupational stressors for firefighters. However, data suggest that these occupa…
has type: Thesis/Dissertation
date issued: 2018-05
is shown at: 10.14288/1.0365960
language: eng
degree discipline: Counselling Psychology
provider: Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
publisher: University of British Columbia
rights: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
rights URI: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
scholar level: Graduate
type: Text
identifier URI: http://hdl.handle.net/2429/65573