Short communication: Relation between social problem-solving appraisals, work stress and psychological distress in male firefighters

The relationship between social problem-solving appraisals, work (organizational and incident-related) stress and psychological distress was assessed in 78 firefighters from three divisions of a UK regional Fire Service using an anonymous self-report questionnaire. The results of an hierarchical regression analysis indicated that work stress and problem-solving appraisal accounted for a significant amount of the variance (49 per cent) in psychological distress scores. A small but significant amount of additional variance was accounted for by the interactions between organizational and incident-related stress and problem-solving appraisals. More specific analysis indicated that of the six problem-solving appraisal dimensions, the approach factor was the only significant predictor of psychological distress, after work stress levels were controlled, individuals in different fire service ranks reported similar levels of organizational stress, self-appraised Problem solving and psychological distress, although watch members had higher incident-related stress levels than senior officers. There were also differences in the pattern of organizational and incident-related stressors between fire service ranks. Results are discussed in terms of the influence of problem-solving appraisals on work stress and psychological distress, and the potential importance of such appraisals in intervention strategies for stress management in the fire service. Copyright (C) 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.