Date of Award
2004
Publication Type
Doctoral Thesis
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Department
Psychology
Keywords
Health and environmental sciences, Psychology, Emergency service providers, Organizational climate, Posttraumatic growth, Traumatic stress
Supervisor
Dr. Jackson
Rights
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Abstract
Emergency service providers are at risk for developing symptoms of traumatic stress because of the frequency and severity of trauma that they may endure while on the job (Regehr & Bober, 2005). However, it has become increasingly clear that factors, other than traumatic events, might be involved in the development of traumatic stress among emergency service providers. The present study examined the relationship between emergency service providers' organizational climate and organizational commitment to the presence of traumatic stress symptoms and posttraumatic growth. Participants included a sample of 251 Canadian emergency service providers (198 firefighters, 35 paramedics, 6 police officers, and 12 victim service providers). The study utilized self-report data obtained from an anonymous internet survey. Measures of traumatic stress symptoms, posttraumatic growth, multiple dimensions of job stress, organizational commitment, organizational support, and team cohesion were included. Moderated multiple regression and path analyses were used to elucidate the precise relationship between the aforementioned variables. Results from the present study indicate that the organizational variables had direct, mediating, and moderating relationships with traumatic stress and posttraumatic growth. Furthermore, results from hierarchical multiple regression analyses indicate that the organizational variables predicted a significant proportion of the variance in traumatic stress symptoms, above and beyond the characteristics of trauma exposure. Together these findings suggest that emergency service providers' organizational climate and organizational commitment might have the potential to prevent or engender the development of traumatic stress and posttraumatic growth.
Recommended Citation
Gray, Lori K., "Emergency service providers' organizational climate and its role in the development of traumatic stress and posttraumatic growth" (2004). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 7937.
https://scholar.uwindsor.ca/etd/7937