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The Role of Mindfulness in Reactivity to Daily Stress in Urban Firefighters

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Abstract

Objectives

The purpose of this study was to test the hypotheses that mindfulness would be related to reduced reactivity to daily stress in urban firefighters.

Methods

Participants were 78 members from an urban fire department who completed an initial questionnaire and a 21-day daily diary. Mindfulness was assessed at baseline using the Mindful Attention and Awareness Scale. The daily diary included measures of stress (total stress, work stress, partner stress) and measures of negative affect, positive affect, and loneliness. Multilevel analyses adjusting for the dependent variable on the previous day were used to test the hypotheses.

Results

Higher daily total, partner, and work stress were associated with increased negative affect. Higher daily, total, and partner stress were associated with increased loneliness and decreased positive affect. Mindfulness appeared to buffer against stress reactivity as higher baseline mindfulness was related to (a) less negative affect on days of greater total stress, (b) more positive affect on days of greater total, work, and partner stress, and (c) less loneliness on days of greater total, work, and partner stress.

Conclusions

Mindfulness may improve the health and wellbeing of urban firefighters by reducing reactivity to daily stress, especially in relation to positive affect and loneliness. Future research should determine whether mindfulness-based interventions may be enhanced by focusing more closely on reducing reactivity to stress, especially in fire service populations.

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Funding

This study was funded by a Center on Alcoholism, Substance Abuse, and Addictions (CASAA) grant awarded to Bruce W. Smith, Ph.D., entitled “Daily Stress, Emotional Distress, and Alcohol Use in Urban Firefighters”. Laurie E. Steffen, Ph.D., was supported by the National Cancer Institute NCI R25 CA122061 (PI: Nancy Avis, Ph.D.).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, 1 University of New Mexico, MSC03 2220, Albuquerque, NM, 87131, USA

    Bruce W. Smith & C. Graham Ford

  2. Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC, USA

    Laurie E. Steffen

Authors
  1. Bruce W. Smith
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  2. C. Graham Ford
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  3. Laurie E. Steffen
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Contributions

BWS: Designed the study, analyzed the data, and led manuscript development and writing. CGF: Assisted with the literature review, interpreting and writing results, and collaborated in the writing and editing of the final manuscript and submission process. LES: Collaborated on study design, executed the study, and collaborated on writing the manuscript. All authors approved the final version of the manuscript for submission.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Bruce W. Smith.

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Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Ethical Approval

The study was approved by the UNM Main Campus Institutional Review Board. There were no adverse events reported All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Informed Consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Smith, B.W., Ford, C.G. & Steffen, L.E. The Role of Mindfulness in Reactivity to Daily Stress in Urban Firefighters. Mindfulness 10, 1603–1614 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-019-01102-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-019-01102-0

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