Workplace Violence Exposure and Burnout Among Fire-Service-Based Paramedics in South Korea: The Indirect Association Through Post-Traumatic Stress Symptoms and the Moderating Roles of Social Support and Resilience – Psychiatry AI: Real-Time AI Scoping Review

AI Summary

Workplace violence exposure was positively associated with post-traumatic stress symptoms, which in turn were positively associated with increased burnout among fire-service paramedics.
Social support moderated links between workplace violence, PTSS, and burnout, with significant moderated mediation, though some effects were sensitive to one influential observation.
Resilience did not significantly moderate PTSS associations, its nominal interaction with burnout lost significance after correction; cross-sectional design warrants cautious interpretation and replication.

TL;DR (AI Generated)

Background/Objectives: This study examined the indirect association between workplace violence exposure and burnout through post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) and the moderating roles of social support and resilience among South Korean fire-service-based paramedics.

In the final sample (N = 210), social support moderated the associations of workplace violence exposure with PTSS (p = 0.002) and burnout (p = 0.015), and its index of moderated mediation was significant (-0.024, 95% bootstrap CI [-0.041, -0.009]).

Conclusions: Social support may play a moderating role in the associations linking workplace violence exposure, PTSS, and burnout, although some findings were sensitive to the exclusion of one influential observation.

Basic summary

Healthcare (Basel). 2026 Oct 24;14(21):3607. doi: 10.3390/healthcare14213607.

ABSTRACT

Background/Objectives: This study examined the indirect association between workplace violence exposure and burnout through post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) and the moderating roles of social support and resilience among South Korean fire-service-based paramedics. Methods: This analytical cross-sectional study included 210 paramedics in Busan, South Korea. Conditional process analyses were conducted using PROCESS Model 8, with social support and resilience examined in separate models. Results: Workplace violence exposure was positively associated with PTSS, which was positively associated with burnout. Conditional indirect associations were significant at the mean of each moderator. In the final sample (N = 210), social support moderated the associations of workplace violence exposure with PTSS (p = 0.002) and burnout (p = 0.015), and its index of moderated mediation was significant (-0.024, 95% bootstrap CI [-0.041, -0.009]). However, the social support interaction predicting PTSS and its index of moderated mediation were statistically significant only after excluding one influential observation (N = 210 vs. N = 211). The social support interaction predicting burnout remained significant in both samples. Resilience did not significantly moderate the PTSS association; its nominally significant interaction predicting burnout did not remain significant after Holm correction, and its index of moderated mediation was not significant. Conclusions: Social support may play a moderating role in the associations linking workplace violence exposure, PTSS, and burnout, although some findings were sensitive to the exclusion of one influential observation. These cross-sectional findings require cautious interpretation and further replication.

PMID:43028628 | DOI:10.3390/healthcare14213607

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