Exploring the psychopathology in professional rescue personnel and citizen volunteers as direct first responders in the Beirut explosion

Abstract

This current paper is a study that explores the psychological impact of the Beirut explosion in professional rescue personnel and citizen volunteers who were directly affected by the blast and actively participated in rescue work. Eight months after the traumatic event, 38 professional rescue personnel and 38 citizen volunteers (N = 76 volunteers) were surveyed using four questionnaires in order to assess different aspects of development of mental disorders. This was done through analyzing the interaction between type of volunteer and gender. The measures that were used included a Demographic Questionnaire, the Impact of Events Scale-Revised (IES-R), The Symptom Checklist- 27 (SCL-27), and The General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12). The results showed that professional rescue workers, especially the female ones, scored higher (M= 47.83) on IES-R scale than the citizen volunteers (M= 41.30). Among the 6 subscales of the SCL-27 scale, that is considered to be valid and reliable, there were minor differences of psychological impact between those two types of volunteers; however, psychiatric symptoms were found to be higher in non-core male volunteers (M= 50.80). Similarly, it was found that among the four subscales on the GHQ-12 measure, male citizen volunteers (M=18.75) had higher scores than their rescue worker counterparts (M=18.23). The results of the research study suggest that both types of volunteers are bound to suffer from severe symptoms related the mental health, but male citizen volunteers, who are rather untrained and not well experienced, were more prone to the development of psychological issues such as depression and anxiety due to traumatic situations and female rescue worker suffered with symptoms of PTSD more than civilians and their male counterparts. However, the results from the type of volunteer, gender, and impact interactions were not statistically significant. Future studies are encouraged to pay more attention to mental health, mainly psychological disorders such as depression and anxiety in all types of volunteers. In addition, examine the best ways and therapies to deal with trauma and PTSD, and provide awareness and life skills sessions to find better coping mechanisms that would help volunteers attain an enhanced mental state.