Biological embedding of psychosocial stressors within a sample of Canadian firefighters: an exploratory analysis

• Published in: Journal of occupational and environmental medicine
• Main Authors: Igboanugo, Somkene, Chaurasia, Ashok, Bigelow, Philip L, Mielke, John G
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01.10.2022
• ISSN: 1536-5948
• DOI: 10.1097/JOM.0000000000002590

We wanted to determine whether the biological embedding of perceived psychosocial stress could be observed within a sample of Canadian firefighters. We collected sociodemographic and general health-related information from 58 firefighters. As well, measures of work-related and general-life psychosocial stress, perceived social support, and physiological parameters thought to reflect the embedding of stress were gathered and analysed using ANOVA and linear regression models. Despite observing a positive relationship between psychosocial stress and allostatic load, the association was non-significant; however, age did significantly predict allostatic load (B = .09, p = .04). Notably, our participants reported abundant social support that was inversely associated with perceived stress. Although perceived stress did not significantly affect allostatic load in our sample, high-levels of social support may have provided an important countervailing force.