Modeling Structural Equations of Anxiety Sensitivity, Emotion Regulation and Resilience in the Formation of Depression and PTSD Disorders in Firefighters

Firefighters are frequently and constantly facing stressful and traumatic situations. The purpose of the present study was  structural  equation modeling of anxiety sensitivity, emotion regulation and resilience in the formation of depression and PTSD disorders.

In a descriptive-correlational research patterns regarding the direct and indirect relationships and interactions among the variables of anxiety sensitivity, resilience, and emotion regulation with depression and PTSD disorders were tested through path analysis. The population of the study consisted all male firefighters of Mashhad in 2018 aged 28 to 55 years, among whom a sample of 264 firefighters were randomly selected to fill the depression, PTSD, anxiety sensitivity, emotion regulation and resilience questionnaires.

The findings showed significantly direct and indirect effects of anxiety sensitivity on PTSD (P<0/05), direct effect of resilience on PTSD (P<0/05), direct and indirect effects of emotion regulation on PTSD , direct effect of resilience on depression in the model under study(P<0/05). The direct and indirect effects of emotion regulation on depression was significant as well. Also, anxiety sensitivity and emotion regulation influenced depression and PTSD both directly and indirectly and resilience directly influenced depression and PTSD.

It could be concluded that the variables of resilience, anxiety sensitivity, and emotion regulation play important roles in predicting depression and post-traumatic stress among firefighters.