Studies Of Evaluation And Intervention Strategies On Coping Styles In The Special-Service Military Personnel As Social Emergency Responders

In recent years, several major emergencies have occurred repeatedly including natural disasters, industrial and traffic accidents, and critical events harmful to public health and social security. Specifically responsible for emergency responses like disaster-rescuing, terrorism-countering, fire-fighting and other dangerous missions, the Special Service Units attached to the Armed Police Forces were set up under this severe circumstance, and are becoming the assault force in social emergency service in China. To be well known, emergency in local distribution happens occultly and unexpectedly, causes or may cause heavy casualties on the site and serious damage to the environment and facility, even lead to massive social disorder and psychological panic. Because Special-Service Units receive the order and act at first time in all of the emergency workers, their staff are fully exposed to multiple trauma threats, directly witness, experience, or learn of frightening disaster or violence situation leading to serious psychological damage, thus playing a role of potential victims. The Special Service Military Personnel (SSMP) held a broad mission spectrum of handling"SARS epidemic","3.14 volence incident in Lhasa","5.12 Wenchuan Earthquake", and are catching more and more attention. However, in addition to their special status in military system, these Special Service Units were founded in such a short time that professional research reports has not yet been found on how to cope with the job-related psychological stress. In this paper, epidemiological investigation and experiment methods were combined to carry out a study on the coping thyles of SSMP. Our study are to design the technique route of field study, build a theoretical framework in coping intervention adapted to SSMP, and to propose a set of methods convenient to carry out a regular training in front-line units. We hope that these results may, to great extent, meet the practical healthcare needs in the diverse non-war military operations in the peace time, and enhance SSMP's coping abilityies to handle various major social emergencies. It is of great sense in the development of both emergency services and military medicine in the peacetime.SectionⅠAn Investigation Study on Coping Styles and Their Influencing Factors in the Special Service Military Personnel as Social Emergency RespondersObjective:To study traits and their influencing factors of coping styles in SSMP as social emergency responders, and to provide a theoretical basis for further epidemiologic intervention.Methods:A cross-sectional survey on coping styles in SSMP and their influencing variables was carried out in Chongqing among 2 camps from a certain special-service detachment in Armed Police Forces and 4 campanies from a certain special-service detachment in the Fire Armed Police Forces of Public Security by means of cluster sampling. Then, 6 coping styles were compared with the Chinese Military Male Norm(CMMN), the types and maturity degree of coping behaviors in SSMP were evaluated, common problems in answers to items in the Coping Stlyes Questionare were analyzed, major influencing variables were screened.Results:Of 396 subjects, 86.36% had professional experience related to emergency task. The average scores in 6 coping styles of SSMP are significantly better than that in the CMMN (P≤0.01), and the descending sequence is problem-solving ( 0.75 ) , help-seeking(0.60), fantasy(0.40), avoidance(0.39), rationalization (0.36), self-blaming(0.24).The coping behavior category in this population is mature. The relevance between the category of coping behavior and the scale (number of 6 coping styles) reached the CMMN is significant (P<0.001), the contingency coefficient is 0.478. However, 396 subjects are scattered over all the categories and the scales of coping styles, 15.91% are dominated by immature coping styles, and only 39.4% reached the CMMN in all 6 coping styles. Even in those subjects with mature coping styles, only 45.95% reached the CMMN in all 6 coping styles. In view of direction and effects of various influencing factors, lack of survival skills, disharmony between self and experience, self-confidence as well as self-stereotypes are negative factors. In addition to social support, self-flexibility and responsibility may be positive factors. Use of social support, disaccord on self-experience, self-confidence and knowledge about danger-avoiding take universal impacts, and other factors take single impact on a certain coping style.Conclusion: Coping styles in SSMP are comparatively mature and stable, but there are broad range of individual differences, quite a number of common problems and multiple influencing factors in this group. So, it is very necessary to advance maturity in coping styles through targeted interventions.SectionⅡA Study on Intervention Stratey of Coping Styles in the Special Service Military Personnel as Social Emergency RespondersObjective: To test the effectiveness of a coping training program on SSMP as social emergency responders and raise a package of intervention strategies as theoretical references in regular training of coping styles for frontline Special-Service Units.Methods: A randomized control trial was carried out in most subjects who attended the initial test in SectionⅠ.By means of cluster grouping, two camps in the Armed Police Forces and four campanies in the Fire Units of Public Security stationed in Chongqing were divided into two parts: intervention group(n=187) and control group(n=178). From Feb. 14 to May 30, 2009, participants in intervention condition received an additional coping-training program while both the groups continued their normal operation. The program included 8 theory modules like event traits, cognitive and appraisal methods, task-related experience, and so on. The whole procedures covered 14 weekly two-hour sessions and were divided into 4 stages: lecture in camps, exercises in sub-group, self-introspection, discussion among members.Results: In the intervention group, 8 failed to complete the full sessions, 3 did not fill out the inventories completely, and the final assessment was obtained from the remaining 176 members. In the control group, 7 missed the post-trial test, and 4 failed to complete the inventories, the remaining 167 members were analyzed finally. There was no significant difference between two groups in baseline. In comparison wether to their own scores in coping styles at pre-intervention or to control group at post-intervention, significant and positive changes were observed in intervention group at post-intervention in five coping styles: problem-solving, help-seeking, avoidance, fantasy and rationalization, with exception of the style of self-blaming. The descending order of absolute change values over the trial in 5 coping styles was fantasy(0.132), help-seeking(0.122),avoidance(0.077), problem-solving(0.073), rationalization (0.055). As influencing factors of coping styles, the degree of perceived social support, use of support, self-flexibility increase significantly in intervention group in measure scores over the trial, the scores in disharmony between self and expetience decrease significantly while no statistic changes were not observed in the control group.Conclusion: With the combined use of modular contents and procedual methods, our intervention strategies not only lead to less choices of non-mature coping style like fantasy, escape and rationalization, but also raise the use of mature coping styles such as problem-solving and help-seeking. So these strategies can effectively improve the group above in most coping styles, can be verified and promoted in the whole SSMP.