O papel da autoeficácia na saúde mental e no Burnout de Cadetes Policiais e Bombeiros Militares

• Autor(a) principal: Souza, Luciane Albuquerque Sá de
• Data de Publicação: 2013
• Tipo de documento: Tese
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Biblioteca Digital de Teses e Dissertações da UFPB
• Texto Completo: https://repositorio.ufpb.br/jspui/handle/tede/6909
• topic: Psicologia social; Saúde mental cadetes - bombeiros; Autoeficácia; Bem-estar subjetivo; Síndrome de Burnout; Self-efficacy; Subjective well-being; Burnout; Military cadets; CIENCIAS HUMANAS::PSICOLOGIA

Military police and firefighters, in performing their work activities, are subject to a variety of situations and conditions arising from the external environment, in addition to having to survive the challenges posed by the public structure in which they operate. This reflection led to our interest in conducting a study with future law enforcement and public safety agents, namely military cadets. Therefore, the general aim of this thesis was to analyze the process by which the relationship between subjective well-being and mental health, and subjective well-being and burnout, acquire psychological meaning from the mediating effect of beliefs of self-efficacy. Toward this end, we set out to achieve the following specific objectives: a) to investigate the mediating effect of selfefficacy in the relationship of the mental health of future military police and firefighters with two sets of variables: those sociodemographic and those related to subjective wellbeing; and b) to evaluate the mediating effect of self-efficacy on the onset of burnout syndrome in future military police and firefighters, with two sets of variables: those sociodemographic and those related to subjective well-being. The study included 228 military cadets, mostly male (79%), between 17 and 24 years of age (60%), and of unmarried status (74%); it is noted that 65% attended the Military Police Officer Training Course, and 35% the Fire and Rescue Service Officer Training Course, with 42% having already attended the course one year earlier, 30% two years, and 28% three years prior. After research project approval by the Ethics Committee, and the consent and authorization of the Director of the Military Police Education Center of Paraíba, we proceeded to collect data. Participants received a booklet containing the following instruments: General (Mental) Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12), Maslach Burnout Inventory - Student Survey (MBI-SS), General Perceived Self-efficacy Scale, Positive and Negative Affect Schedule, Subjective Vitality Scale, and the Satisfaction with Life Scale. Initially, we conducted a hierarchical regression, using the "Enter" method, to assess: 1) the role of sociodemographic variables and subjective well-being in the mental health of military cadets; and 2) the role of sociodemographic variables and subjective well-being in the development of burnout in the military cadets. Subsequently, simple regressions were run, using the "Enter" method, to test the mediating effect of self-efficacy among the aforementioned variables. Regarding the construct of subjective well-being, we found that, despite being exposed to various adverse contingencies, these military cadets manage to maintain balanced levels of mental health, largely due to the dynamics of the four types of mediating functions (cognitive , selective, affective, and regulatory) set in motion by the beliefs of selfefficacy, in these individuals. Another interesting finding showed that the relationship between length of service and mental health is fully explained by self-efficacy. And in relation to burnout, it is emphasized that despite coming from the same academic environment (CEPMPB), police cadets and firefighter cadets showed a divergence in terms of burnout levels - police cadets exhibited a higher level of burnout than did firefighter cadets. Other evidence indicates that the more time cadets spend in the service, the more likely they are to develop burnout. The analysis results of this thesis indicate that military cadets (irrespective of gender and type of service to which they belong) are using (even partially) their self-efficacy beliefs to help deal with day-to-day stress. The discussions suggest intervention programs as a way for the military services to conserve resources, as this will prevent the emergence of burnout syndrome in the professional life of military police and firefighters.