Abstract:
Firefighters work in an environment in which they are constantly exposed to stressful
situations. Exposure to acute and chronic stress have shown to have dire effects on firefighters,
including an increased risk of cardiovascular disease (Cardiovascular related health problems are
the largest cause of death in firefighters), as well as burnout. Burnout is becoming a prominent
issue in the fire service, as increasing emergency responses and decreasing participation make
the job much more demanding. There is evidence in the literature to support mental toughness as
an effective factor in combatting the physical and psychological consequences of stress, as well
as increased organizational performance. However, no current research evaluates the
effectiveness of mental toughness on these factors in a population of firefighters. The present
study examined the effectiveness of a three-week, six session mental toughness intervention on
stress perception and burnout in 15 firefighters located in the Eastern United States. The Mental
Toughness Index (Gucciardi et al., 2015) was used to assess mental toughness, the Firefighter
Assessment of Stress Test (Schuhman et al., 2021) was used to assess firefighter stress
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perception, and the Oldenburg Burnout Inventory (Demerouti et al., 2003) was used to assess
burnout. Participants were asked to perform a self-report questionnaire assessing their
organizational performance, defined by reported absenteeism. Creating an effective mental
toughness training program for firefighters can help address two major issues in the fire service,
burnout and stress while also potentially increasing organizational performance, helping
firefighters become prepared to successfully handle the physical and mental stressors faced while
performing their job. Preliminary analysis showed no significant differences in mental
toughness, burnout, perceived stress, or work performance between groups at baseline. Repeated
Measures ANOVA analyses supported the effectiveness of the mental toughness intervention on
mental toughness (p < .001), burnout symptoms (p = .002), perceived stress (p < .001), and work
performance (p = .008). Correlational analyses yielded significant relationships between mental
toughness and burnout ( r = -.573). No significant relationship was found at baseline between
mental toughness and stress perception. However, a significant relationship was found postintervention
between mental toughness and stress perception (r = -.507). Similarly, no significant
relationship was found between mental toughness and work performance at baseline. However, a
marginally significant relationship was found between mental toughness and work performance
post-intervention ( r = -.354). Implications for this study support the efficacy for utilizing mental
toughness interventions to address burnout, stress perception, and work performance in a
firefighter population.
