title: Sleep problems, depression, substance use, social bonding, and quality of life in professional firefighters.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Little attention has been given to factors contributing to firefighters' psychosomatic well-being. The purpose of this descriptive study was to examine such contributing factors in a sample of professional firefighters.
  
  
  METHODS
  Measures assessing sleep, depression, substance use, social bonding, and quality of life were examined in 112 firefighters.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Overall, many firefighters reported sleep deprivation (59%), binge drinking behavior (58%), poor mental well-being (21%), current nicotine use (20%), hazardous drinking behavior (14%), depression (11%), poor physical well-being (8%), caffeine overuse (5%), or poor social bonding (4%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Small-to-medium correlations were identified between sleep deprivation, depression, physical/mental well-being, and drinking behaviors. High-risk behaviors that impact psychosomatic well-being are prevalent in professional firefighters, which require environmental and individual-based health promotion interventions. The inter-correlation relationships between such behaviors, therefore, need to be explored in further details.
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing, University at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY 14214, USA. mgcarey@buffalo.edu
authors.forename: Mary G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Carey
authors.forename: Salah S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Al-Zaiti
authors.forename: Grace E
authors.initials: GE
authors.lastname: Dean
authors.forename: Loralee
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Sessanna
authors.forename: Deborah S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Finnell
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D003069:Coffee; D003863:Depression / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D061388:Firefighters / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D009769:Object Attachment; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000523:psychology; D015995:Prevalence; D011788:Quality of Life; D012893:Sleep Wake Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology; D012919:Social Behavior; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology
chemical_list: D003069:Coffee