title: PTSD in paramedics: resilience and sense of coherence.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Paramedics are frequently subjected to traumatic experiences and have higher PTSD prevalence rates than people in the general population. However, the vast majority of paramedics do not develop PTSD. While several risk factors for PTSD have been established, little is known about protective factors. It has been suggested that a good sense of coherence (SOC) and high resilience lower the risk for developing PTSD.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To examine whether SOC and resilience are associated with PTSD severity in paramedics.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cross-sectional study investigated SOC, resilience and PTSD in paramedics (N = 668). PTSD was assessed with the Posttraumatic Stress Diagnostic Scale (PDS); resilience and SOC were measured with the Resilience Scale (RS-11) and the Sense of Coherence Scale (SOC-L9). Further measures included preparation of dealing with traumatic events and availability of psychological help.
  
  
  RESULTS
  As expected, both resilience and SOC were negatively correlated with PTSD symptoms. The regression analysis showed that 19.2% of the total variance in symptom severity was explained by these variables. However, SOC was a better predictor than resilience for PTSD severity, as it accounted for more unique variance. Paramedics who were prepared for dealing with work-related traumatic events and who received psychological help had less severe PTSD symptoms and higher SOC scores than paramedics for whom these services were not available.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Enhancing resilience, and especially SOC, seems a promising approach to reduce PTSD symptom severity in high risk groups like paramedics.
authors.affiliation: Saarland University,Saarbrücken,Germany.
authors.forename: Markus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Streb
authors.affiliation: Saarland University,Saarbrücken,Germany.
authors.forename: Pascal
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Häller
authors.affiliation: Saarland University,Saarbrücken,Germany.
authors.forename: Tanja
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Michael
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000488:Allied Health Personnel / Q000523:psychology*; D015928:Cognitive Behavioral Therapy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D055500:Resilience, Psychological; D060685:Sense of Coherence; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult