Volume 4, Article 2
International Journal of Stress Prevention and Wellbeing, Volume 4, Article 2
Which rescue workers benefit from preventive training in self-management to improve mental health?
Heilwine Bakker, Marc van Veldhoven, Tony Gaillard & Remy Hertogs
Citation
Bakker, H., van Veldhoven, M., Gaillard, T., & Hertog, R. (2020). ‘Which rescue workers benefit from preventive training in self-management?’ International Journal of Stress Prevention and Wellbeing, 4, 2, 1-16. Retrieved from: https://www.stressprevention.net/volume/volume-4-2020/volume-4-article-2/
Published on 13/02/20
Biographies
Heilwine Bakker is psychologist at Balans & Impuls and gives support to rescue workers for several years. She is connected as a graduate student at the Tilburg University, department of Human Resource Studies in the Netherlands.
http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3984-510X
Marc van Veldhoven is a full professor in the department of Human Resource Studies at Tilburg University, the Netherlands. His chair is focused on the topic of “Work, Health & Well-being”. His main interest is in building bridges between research on occupational health psychology and research on (strategic) HRM.
http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5762-7945
Tony Gaillard is emeritus professor in the Tilburg School of Social and Behavioral Sciences (TSB) at Tilburg University, the Netherlands. His chair is focused on “Cognitive load and Work stress. His main interest is on recovery and psychophysiological research.
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0148-7004
Remy Hertogs works as an applied psychologist for Balans & Impuls in the Netherlands, where he works on research on rescue workers and their recovery.
http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9462-4196
Which rescue workers benefit from preventive training in self-management to improve mental health?
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to shed light on the question which rescue workers benefit from training in mental health self-management skills. The effectiveness of this training was examined in 79 respondents. The sample contained 38 policemen and 41 ambulance personnel. The effectiveness of the current training was evaluated by measuring the functioning in five private life tasks, metacognitive awareness and coping self-efficacy prior to and after the training. The influence of critical incident exposure, age and personality on intervention effectiveness was also evaluated. The results showed non-significant increases at T2 in perceived effectiveness for the life tasks: Social life and Maintaining mental health. In the scores on two other life tasks (Household and finance and Maintaining Positivity) no significant differences were found. The fifth life task, Giving meaning, was marginally lower at T2. The scales metacognitive awareness and coping self-efficacy showed no significant change. Analyses on differential training effects showed that respondents who experienced more critical incidents showed a smaller T2-T1 difference score on Giving meaning. Due to the small research group we can say with caution that this can indicate that individuals who have a lower exposure of critical incidents at T1, benefit more from these kinds of training schemes. Older respondents showed a smaller gain on Household and finance and Maintaining positivity between measurements, which might indicate that individuals at a younger age might benefit more from the training.