In recent years, the issue of strain and the related construct has received considerable attention in various academic fields. In the literature, many descriptions of strain in connection with coping often emphasize its consequences, especially negative ones. During the last ten years, however, many studies have also shown a positive consequence of negative life events, where most people reported positive growth.

Positive effects of severe life situations are an important condition for the personality development of every individual. It is precisely by overcoming various obstacles and difficulties that we achieve quality life and a strong personality.

We are interested in this topic precisely because it concerns not only us and our immediate circle personally, but stress is a natural companion of everyday life for anyone.

In relation to the phenomenon of strain, we can describe a range of social, physiological, personality changes, and changes in mental life. All of these determinants contribute to a person's overall life satisfaction and happiness to a significant extent.

For exploring this topic, we focused on the profession of firefighters, mainly because it is generally known but relatively under-studied by research in this area. We consider it an exemplary sample of stress coping. The firefighter profession has, from both physical and psychological perspectives, many specific characteristics that make it a highly demanding activity. Among these physical and psychological burdens we include specifics such as shift work, and disturbing factors such as time stress, noise, high temperatures, and toxic substances. We must not forget either the effect of intense stress during rescue operations—especially the high level of physical activity. For this reason, research on the negative effects of strain in this profession is surely extensive.

Our work focused on identifying types of stressful situations among firefighters and more or less effective strategies of coping with them, with emphasis on their consequences. The first goal of our thesis was to build on the knowledge concerning this topic, and as the title of our thesis already indicates, our main aim was to demonstrate that stress and strain can also have positive effects, in the form of growth, based on the association with preferences for certain coping strategies. These include spiritual, social, personality, and emotional growth.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1 STRESS AND PSYCHOLOGICAL STRAIN 1.1 Levels and types of psychological strain 1.2 Workplace as a source of stress 1.3 Consequences of stress at the workplace

2 PSYCHOLOGICAL STRAIN AMONG FIREFIGHTERS 2.1 Characteristics of HaZZ 2.2 Strain among members of HaZZ 2.3 Consequences of stress among members of HaZZ 2.4 Studies focused on strain among members of HaZZ

3 STRESS COPING 3.1 Coping and coping strategies 3.2 Ways of coping with strain among members of HaZZ and their psychohygiene 3.3 Studies focused on coping 3.4 Studies focused on coping and age 3.5 Studies focused on coping in relation to marital status 3.6 Studies focused on coping strategies among members of HaZZ

4 STRESS-INDUCED GROWTH 4.1 Studies focused on stress-induced growth 4.2 Studies focused on relationships between growth and coping

5 RESEARCH PROBLEM SOLVING 5.1 Objective of the research part 5.2 Research questions and hypotheses 5.3 Research sample 5.4 Methodology and research methods 5.5 List of variables in our research and their statistical parameters 5.6 Organization and methods of research data processing 5.7 Research results and interpretation

6 DISCUSSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR PRACTICE

Title: PSYCHOLOGICAL STRAIN AMONG FIREFIGHTERS, THEIR COPING STRATEGIES, AND THEIR RELATIONSHIP TO STRESS-INDUCED GROWTH Thesis Author: Mgr. Simona Vašíčková Supervisor: PhDr. Anton Markuš, CSc. Study program: Psychology Trnava 2013