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

The relationship between social problem-solving appraisals, work (organizat ional 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 reg ression analysis indicated that work stress and problem-solving appraisal a ccounted for a significant amount of the variance (49 per cent) in psycholo gical distress scores. A small but significant amount of additional varianc e was accounted for by the interactions between organizational and incident -related stress and problem-solving appraisals. More specific analysis indi cated that of the six problem-solving appraisal dimensions, the approach fa ctor was the only significant predictor of psychological distress, after wo rk stress levels were controlled, individuals in different fire service ran ks reported similar levels of organizational stress, self-appraised Problem solving and psychological distress, although watch members had higher inci dent-related stress levels than senior officers. There were also difference s in the pattern of organizational and incident-related stressors between f ire service ranks. Results are discussed in terms of the influence of probl em-solving appraisals on work stress and psychological distress, and the po tential importance of such appraisals in intervention strategies for stress management in the fire service. Copyright (C) 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.