Why are emergency medical technicians' coping strategies dysfunctional? Direct and indirect effects of resilience and perceived stress.

Background: Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs) are at high risk for traumatic disorders, and these disorders are more likely if they resort to dysfunctional coping. However, few studies have examined how dysfunctional coping can be decreased, specifically by comparing the impact of personal characteristics, such as resilience, and of occupational factors, such as stress. This study examines the contribution of resilience and perceived stress on EMTs' dysfunctional coping.

Methods: A total of 502 EMTs (66% men), with a job experience of approximately 8 years (SD = 3.84), answered the Resilience Scale (Self and Life Acceptance; Personal Competence; Total score), Brief Cope, and Anxiety Depression Stress Scales.

Results: EMTs reported high resilience, low stress and dysfunctional coping. Resilience dimensions, specifically self and life acceptance, and stress contributed to dysfunctional coping. Stress displayed the highest regression coefficient. The effect of self and life acceptance on dysfunctional coping was no longer significant when accounting for stress, revealing a full mediation effect.

Conclusions: How EMTs perceive stress can mitigate the protective role of acceptance on the use of dysfunctional coping. These findings suggest EMTs' occupational training may benefit from focusing on how to manage stressful and critical incidents, as well as on how to cope with stress.