Stress and emergency work experience: a non‐linear relationship Available to Purchase

Emergency workers vary in their levels of experience, both in terms of years of service and involvement with traumatic incidents, and both types can influence vulnerability to stress. Opposing arguments can be made that experience has a sensitising or desensitising effect. Experienced emergency workers are shown to be more at risk in some studies and less so in others. It is proposed that the relationship between experience and stress is not necessarily linear, as is frequently assumed in such studies. This paper presents a test of linear and quadratic trends on stress and related variables across three groups of experienced firefighters. The results support the proposition that the relationship between stress and experience is quadratic, with stress highest in the middle experience group, and lowest in the low and high experience groups. This result is not explained by differences in actual traumatic exposures or coping practices. Other possible reasons are discussed.