The Effects of Disaster Exposure and Post-Disaster Critical Incidents on Intrusions, Avoidance Reactions and Health Problems Among Firefighters: A Comparative Study

Firefighters are at risk to be confronted with critical incidents and disasters. This study focused on the predictive value of these variables and their interaction effect for intrusions, avoidance reactions, and health problems among firefighters 18 months post-disaster (N = 639). Furthermore, the course of intrusions, avoidance reactions, and health problems in the period 2–3 weeks to 18 months post-disaster was assessed. Health problems were compared with those of non-affected firefighters (N = 132). Results showed that only disaster exposure and critical incidents accounted for a significant but small proportion of the variance (R 2 < .07) of intrusions, avoidance reactions and health problems among the affected firefighters. Health problems among affected firefighters did not decline in the period 2–3 weeks–18 months post-disaster, in contrast to intrusions and avoidance reactions. Health problems of both groups were comparable at T2. Results suggest that resilience in firefighters is rather high.