Social Support and Network Conflict in Firefighters and Paramedics1

The relationship(s) between self-rated social support network conflict (both at work and off-work) and self-report measures of occupational stressors, job satisfaction, and health outcomes were examined in samples of currently employed professional firefighters (n = 1,730) and paramedics (n = 253). In both samples, perceived social support and network conflict at work were more strongly correlated with job satisfaction and work morale, as well as a measure of their appraised occupational stressors, than with their comparable home (off-work) satisfaction/conflict ratings. The path analysis generated suggested that, with only one exception, social support and relational conflict in the combined respondent sample could be conceptualized as direct sources of stress influencing the respondents' appraisal of their occupational stressors. The path model further suggested that firefighter/paramedics' appraisal of their occupational stressors mediated the network variables' influences on self-reported job dissatisfaction and stress symptom health outcome measures.