Resilience Training for Firefighters: An Approach to Prevent Behavioral Health Problems

85 Pages·2016·1.39 MB·English

by  Karen F. Deppa

SPRINGER BRIEFS IN FIRE
Karen F. Deppa
Judith Saltzberg
Resilience Training
for Firefighters
An Approach to
Prevent Behavioral
Health Problems
123
SpringerBriefs in Fire
Series editor
James A. Milke, College Park, USA
More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/10476
Karen F. Deppa Judith Saltzberg
(cid:129)
Resilience Training
fi
for Fire ghters
An Approach to Prevent Behavioral
Health Problems
123
Karen F.Deppa Judith Saltzberg
Brookeville, MD University of Pennsylvania
USA Wynnewood, PA
USA
ISSN 2193-6595 ISSN 2193-6609 (electronic)
SpringerBriefs inFire
ISBN978-3-319-38778-9 ISBN978-3-319-38779-6 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-38779-6
LibraryofCongressControlNumber:2016940323
©TheAuthor(s)2016
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This SpringerBrief is dedicated to fire service
emergency responders everywhere—a
selfless, devoted group of public servants who
deserve unwavering admiration and respect
for their efforts and sacrifices.
Acknowledgments
Theauthorsacknowledgewithgratitudetheirfamilies,fortheirsteadysupportand
encouragement throughout the preparation of this brief. Karen Deppa thanks Roy,
Janetta, Nate, and Garrett. Judith Saltzberg thanks Steve and Noah and also Karen
Reivich, a leader in thefieldof resilience training and mycolleague and friend for
thelast25years.SpecialappreciationgoestoMichaelA.Donahueforhisreviews,
suggestions, and dedication to making resilience training for firefighters a reality.
Finally, a salute to the faculty and students of the University of Pennsylvania’s
MasterofAppliedPositivePsychologyprogramforprovidingtheresources, rigor,
and perspectives that helped to lay the foundation for this report.
vii
Contents
1 Introduction and Statement of Goals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
2 Firefighter First Responders. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2.1 The Fire Service Culture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2.2 How Behavioral Health Issues in the Fire Service
Have Been Approached . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
3 Positive Psychology: An Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
4 Resilience: Dealing with Adversity and Setbacks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
4.1 Optimism: A Primary Driver of Resilience. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
4.2 Not to Be Confused with Post-traumatic Growth. . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
4.3 The Hope Circuit: Learning About Control Promotes
Resilience. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
4.4 Resilience Skills Are Teachable. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
4.4.1 Teaching Resilience Skills to School-Age Populations. . . . 28
4.4.2 Teaching Resilience Skills to Adult Populations . . . . . . . . 29
References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
5 Major Factors that Influence Behavioral Health
in the Fire Service. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
5.1 Thinking Patterns that Lead to Unproductive Emotions
and Behaviors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
5.2 Relatedness, Belonging, and the Role of Social Support. . . . . . . . 38
5.3 Perceived Coping Self-efficacy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
5.3.1 Stress: A Threat or a Challenge?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
5.3.2 Mindsets Are Malleable. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
ix
x Contents
5.3.3 Mindsets About Stress Relate to Coping Self-efficacy . . . . 42
5.3.4 Perceived Coping Self-efficacy in Studies Involving
Emergency Responders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
6 Discussion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
6.1 Sample Interventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
6.1.1 Interventions to Increase Realistic Optimistic Thinking . . . 54
6.1.2 Interventions to Increase the Quality of Social
Interactions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
6.1.3 Interventions to Increase Coping Self-efficacy. . . . . . . . . . 56
6.1.4 Measurement Tools. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
6.2 The Case for Universal Training . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
6.2.1 Implementation and Cultural Considerations. . . . . . . . . . . 59
6.2.2 Moving Toward a More Resilient Fire Service . . . . . . . . . 60
6.3 Limitations of This Review. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
6.4 Future Directions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
6.5 Supplement. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
6.5.1 Identifying ABCs—A Foundational Skill to Build
Resilience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
6.5.2 Identifying Thinking Traps and Getting FAT Thinking . . . 65
6.5.3 Countering Unproductive Thoughts in Real Time . . . . . . . 66
6.5.4 Hunting the Good Stuff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
6.5.5 Active-Constructive Responding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
6.5.6 Building High-Quality Connections (HQCs). . . . . . . . . . . 69
References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
7 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Reference. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Glossary of Terminology. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Chapter 1
Introduction and Statement of Goals
Firefighter emergency responders routinely face work-related stresses. Violent,
graphicincidentsareawell-documentedbutunavoidablepartofthejob(Fisherand
Etches 2003; Meyer et al. 2012). So, too, are the risks for behavioral health
problems associated with those stresses (Sliter et al. 2014; Wilmoth 2014).
Researchers have studied the factors associated with the development of psycho-
logicaldistressinthispopulation.Theyhavesoughttofindpatternsandpredictors
pointingtowhensuchproblemsaremorelikelytooccur.Sincetheterroristattacks
ofSeptember11,2001,attentiontotreatingpsychologicalsymptomsinemergency
responders has gained greater prominence. A number of programs and guidance
documents focus on addressing symptoms once they occur, or on trying to reduce
the impact of events after the fact. These crucial efforts need to continue.
However, very few studies address the idea of actively trying to prevent, or at
least mitigate, the negative reactions to traumatic stress before the exposure to
events occurs. This e-book begins to fill that void by exploring the concepts and
science of positive psychology. This relatively new field offers tools for learning
psychological resilience, the process of adapting in a positive way to situations
involvingadversityorrisk(Mastenetal.2009).Resilienceisadefaultreactionfor
most people. But when circumstances hinder our natural ability to act in resilient
ways,resiliencecanbefosteredthroughasetofteachableskills.ThisBriefreviews
factors that lead to resilience and programs that have successfully developed resi-
lience in a variety of audiences. Based on this review, the goal of avoiding or at
least reducing behavioral health problems in firefighter emergency responders
seems achievable. Thus, the application of resilience training for firefighters and
ultimately the development of resilient fire department environments appear to be
not only feasible, but essential.
Emergency responders pledge to serve their communities in ways and to an
extent that few are willing or able to do. The approach explored in this Brief
capitalizes on the best aspects of the profession and culture of the fire and
©TheAuthor(s)2016 1
K.F.DeppaandJ.Saltzberg,ResilienceTrainingforFirefighters,
SpringerBriefsinFire,DOI10.1007/978-3-319-38779-6_1