Coping strategies and collective efficacy as mediators between stress appraisal and quality of life among rescue workers

Fire-fighters, paramedics, and emergency medical technicians routinely confront potentially traumatic events in the course of their jobs. The mediation role of coping strategies and collective efficacy in the relationship between stress appraisal and quality of life was examined (compassion satisfaction, compassion fatigue, and burnout) in a correlational study. Participants were 463 Italian rescue workers (fire fighters and different categories of emergency health care professionals). Participants filled out measures of stress appraisal, collective efficacy, coping strategies, and quality of life. The results showed that emotion and support coping, self-blame coping, and self-distraction mediated the relationship between stress appraisal and compassion fatigue. Moreover, collective efficacy, self-blame coping, and religious coping mediated the relationship between stress appraisal and burnout. Finally, collective efficacy, self-blame coping, and problem-focused coping mediated the relationship between stress appraisal and compassion satisfaction. Cognitive restructuring and denial did not mediate the relation between stress appraisal and any of the quality of life dimensions.