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Cited by 72Workplace Health and Well-beingOccupational Health and BurnoutStress and Burnout Research

The importance of manager support for the mental health and well-being of ambulance personnel

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Petrie, Katherine, Gayed, Aimée, Bryan, Bridget T., Deady, Mark, Madan, Ira, Savic, Anita, Wooldridge, Zoe, Counson, Isabelle +3 more·2018·PLOS ONE
DOI 10.1371/journal.pone.0197802PMC PMC5965892
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Abstract

Interventions to enhance mental health and well-being within high risk industries such as the emergency services have typically focused on individual-level factors, though there is increasing interest in the role of organisational-level interventions. The aim of this study was to examine the importance of different aspects of manager support in determining the mental health of ambulance personnel. A cross-sectional survey was completed by ambulance personnel across two Australian states (N = 1,622). Demographics, manager support and mental health measures were assessed. Hierarchical multiple linear regressions were conducted to determine the explanatory influence of the employee's perception of the priority management places upon mental health issues (manager psychosocial safety climate) and managers' observed behaviours (manager behaviour) on employee common mental disorder and well-being within ambulance personnel. Of the 1,622 participants, 123 (7.6%) were found to be suffering from a likely mental disorder. Manager psychosocial safety climate accounted for a significant amount of the variance in levels of employee common mental health disorder symptoms (13%, p<0.01) and well-being (13%, p<0.01). Manager behaviour had a lesser, but still statistically significant influence upon symptoms of common mental disorder (7% of variance, p<0.01) and well-being (10% of variance, p<0.05). The perceived importance management places on mental health and managers' actual behaviour are related but distinct concepts, and each appears to impact employee mental health. While the overall variance explained by each factor was limited, the fact that each is potentially modifiable makes this finding important and highlights the significance of organisational and team-level interventions to promote employee well-being within emergency services and other high-risk occupations.

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  • Manager psychosocial safety climate accounted for a significant amount of variance in levels of mental health disorders in the workforce, but only 7.6% of 1622 participants were identified as having a mental health disorder.

    “Petrie et al. identified that the manager psychosocial safety climate accounted for a significant amount of variance in levels of mental health disorders in the workforce but only identified 7.6% of their 1622 participants as having a mental health disorder”

    From Understanding the Occupational Factors that Influence Paramedic Health and Wellbeing (2024) · cites this paper as Petrie et al., 2018

    The Results (page not specified) report that manager psychosocial safety climate accounted for 13% of the variance in common mental disorder symptom scores, and that 123 of 1,622 ambulance personnel (7.6%) screened positive. The claim omits an important qualification: the study identified participants with symptoms of a likely disorder, not confirmed diagnoses of a mental health disorder. (LLM, conf=0.85)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Among ambulance personnel, manager psychosocial safety climate accounted for a significant amount of variance in levels of employee common mental health disorder symptoms and well-being.

    “Manager psychosocial safety climate accounted for a significant amount of variance in the levels of employee common mental health disorder symptoms and well- being.”

    From Understanding the Occupational Factors that Influence Paramedic Health and Wellbeing (2024) · cites this paper as Petrie, K., Gayed, A., Bryan, B., Deady, M., Madan, I., Savic, A, Wooldridge, Z., Counson, I., Calvo, R., Glozi- er, N. & Harvey, S. 2018

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Cited by

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Authors
Petrie, K., Gayed, A., Bryan, B. T., Deady, M., Madan, I., Savic, A., Wooldridge, Z., Counson, I., Calvo, R. A., Glozier, N., & Harvey, S. B.
Affiliations
  • Black Dog Institute (AU)
  • UNSW Sydney (AU)
  • St Thomas' Hospital (GB)
  • Ambulance Victoria (AU)
  • NSW Ambulance (AU)
  • The University of Sydney (AU)
Corresponding author
Harvey, Samuel B.
ORCID
Venue
PLOS ONE
Publisher
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Published
2018-05-23
Volume
13
Issue
5
Pages
e0197802
ISSN
1932-6203 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1371/journal.pone.0197802
PMC
PMC5965892
OpenAlex
W2803816305
Cited by
72
References
12
Citations by year
2026: 10 · 2025: 11 · 2024: 13 · 2023: 10 · 2022: 14 · 2021: 7 · 2020: 5 · 2019: 2
FWCI
5.35
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • PLoS ONE (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
  • Figshare (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • Research Portal (King's College London) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • Spiral (Imperial College London) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
  • UNSWorks (University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
Funders
  • beyondblue
  • Movember Foundation
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Workplace Health and Well-being
  • Health Sciences › Health Professions › Occupational Therapy › Occupational Health and Burnout
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Stress and Burnout Research
Keywords
manager support, ambulance personnel, mental health, well-being, common mental disorders, psychosocial safety climate, organizational interventions, emergency services, high-risk occupations, workplace mental health
MeSH terms
Adult, Ambulances, Mental Disorders, Cross-Sectional Studies, Female, Health Personnel, Humans, Male, Mental Health, Middle Aged, Occupational Health Services, Linear Models, Occupational Health, Young Adult

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