Safety and Health at Work

Occupational Safety and Health Research Institute, Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency (산업안전보건연구원)
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Association Between Social Support, and Depressive Symptoms Among Firefighters: The Mediating Role of Negative Coping

  • Liang Wang (College of Public Health, Chongqing Medical University) ;
  • Fengqiong Chen (Chongqing Center for Disease Control and Prevention) ;
  • Yulu Zhang (College of Public Health, Chongqing Medical University) ;
  • Mengliang Ye (College of Public Health, Chongqing Medical University)
  • Received : 2023.06.04
  • Accepted : 2023.10.03
  • Published : 2023.12.30
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Abstract

Background: Depressive symptoms (DS) can erode physical and mental health; social support (SS) is considered a buffer for DS and a promoter for improving coping and recovery abilities. However, there is almost no research on the mediating role of negative coping (NC) in SS and DS, especially among firefighters. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among firefighters in Chongqing, China, and the valid data of 407 firefighters were collected through questionnaires distributed on the WeChat platform in 2020. Statistical Product and Service Solutions (SPSS) 26.0 is used for descriptive statistics and correlation analysis. Structural equation modeling was adopted to analyze the association among SS, NC, and DS. The mediation effect is also evaluated. Results: Firefighters' detection rate of DS is 23.3%, and when they receive more SS were less likely to develop DS. NC was positively correlated with DS (β = 0.54, p < 0.001) after controlling for SS. Besides, the results of structural equation modeling showed that NC partially mediates the relationship between SS and DS (standard error = 0.039, indirect effects = 0.109, 95% confidence interval: 0.047-0.200 p < 0.001). Conclusion: NC has a partial indirect effect between SS and DS among firefighters. SS could not only affect DS directly but also indirect work on it by affecting NC. This discovery will be a novel and meaningful part of the research on the firefighter population.

Keywords

Acknowledgement

The authors would like to thank all the participants involved in this project for their contribution and dedication sincerely.

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