The Protective Effects of Perceived Cohesion on the Mental Health of First Responders

First responders are repeatedly exposed to traumatic and stressful situations. Perceived cohesion can mitigate the potentially harmful psychological impact of these stressors. While the positive effects of cohesion have been established in other trauma-exposed populations such as the military, these effects have not been examined in first responders. Furthermore, prior studies have not ruled out the possibility that perceived cohesion may be acting as a proxy for another well-established protective factor, social support. We therefore examined how perceived cohesion among first responder organizations impacts psychological health and resilience, even after accounting for the effects of social support. First responders (N = 182) completed measures of perceived cohesion, social support, psychological symptoms (including depression, stress, anxiety, posttraumatic stress symptoms, secondary traumatic stress symptoms, and burnout), and psychological resilience. Even after controlling for social support, perceived cohesion was associated with lower levels of psychological symptoms (beta = -.18 to -.33; p <.05; for secondary traumatic stress, posttraumatic stress, depression, and each facet of burnout) and higher levels of resilience (beta =.37; p <.05). These results suggest that perceived cohesion promotes psychological health among first responders, even after controlling for social support. Thus, perceived cohesion does not seem to be acting as a mere proxy for social support. Further examination of how perceived cohesion benefits first responders could lay the groundwork for interventions to improve their mental health and psychological resilience. Impact Statement Perceived cohesion was associated with higher psychological resilience and lower psychological symptoms among first responders, a group regularly exposed to potentially stressful and traumatic events. Therefore, it may be useful to examine whether interventions that foster cohesion among first responders could be used to improve their psychological health and resilience.