Alcohol use and mental health symptoms in female firefighter recruits

Abstract

Background Limited research suggests that female firefighters report problem drinking at higher rates than the general population. Aims To identify longitudinal drinking patterns in female firefighters, make comparisons to male firefighters and examine problem drinking in relation to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression. Methods Study participants included 33 female and 289 male firefighter recruits, who were assessed over their first 3 years of fire service. Results Female firefighters consumed increasing numbers of drinks per week, with a median of 0.90 drinks per week at baseline, and 1.27 drinks in year 3. Female firefighters reported binge drinking at high rates, with nearly half binging at least once per year across all time points (44–74%). The percentage that reported binge drinking three or more times per month doubled over the course of the study (from 9% to 18%). Overall, males reported higher rates of binge drinking and a greater number of drinks per week; however, binge drinking rates among females increased over time and became comparable to rates of binge drinking among males. A greater percentage of female than male firefighters met the criteria for problem drinking by year 1. Problem drinking was associated with screening positive for PTSD at year 1 and depression at year 2, but not with occupational injury. Conclusions Over time, female firefighters reported increasing amounts of drinking, more frequent binge drinking and more negative consequences from drinking. These findings along with existing literature indicate female firefighters change their drinking in the direction of their male counterparts.

Job Demands and Exhaustion in Firefighters: The Moderating Role of Work Meaning. A Cross-Sectional Study

“…High-risk professions, such as firefighting, introduce specific demands that include exposure to emotional and physical trauma and life-threatening situations on a regular basis and have a high impairment potential. Despite the fact that resilience factors in firefighters are higher than in the general population [ 20 ], previous studies have shown that the particular nature of firefighters’ job demands increases the risk for post-traumatic stress [ 21 , 22 ], burnout [ 23 , 24 , 25 ], and mental and physical health problems [ 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 ]. As such, employing the JD-R model, we expected that our data would support these results, and we hypothesized a positive relationship between the perceived intensity of job demands and exhaustion levels (Hypothesis 1).…”

Post-traumatic stress disorder and depressive symptoms among firefighters: a network analysis

“…Both of them are higher than those of the community population ( 13 ). Since stressful and frightening working situations are almost inevitable for firefighters, the potential risk of a series of negative results caused by PTSD and depression is extremely serious, including alcohol abuse, occupation burnout, and even suicidal ideation or attempt ( 14–16 ). Besides, from the clinical perspective, there is a substantial amount of symptoms overlap between PTSD and depression, like sleep disturbance, inattention, avoidance, and withdrawal, etc.…”