Aim: This study explored the extent to which emotion regulation dimensions statistically mediate the association between sleep disturbance and suicide risk among firefighters.
Method: Participants were 865 firefighters working for a fire department in an urban area in the southern U.S. Bootstrapping was used to test the indirect effects of sleep disturbance on suicide risk through emotion regulation dimensions, after controlling for depression and trauma exposure.
Results: The effect of sleep disturbance on suicide risk was significantly statistically mediated by emotion regulation difficulties (β= .09, SE = .02, 95% CI: .05, .14). Moreover, each of the five dimensions of emotion regulation difficulties significantly statistically mediated this association, with difficulties in engaging in goal-direct behavior (β = .09, SE = .02, 95% CI: .05, .14) and lack of strategies to reduce distress demonstrating the strongest indirect effects (β = .07, SE = .02, 95% CI: .04, .11), after accounting for depression and trauma exposure.
Conclusion: Results suggest that suicide interventions for firefighters who suffer from sleep disturbance should focus on the development of emotion regulation strategies.
Keywords: Emotion regulation; firefighters; first responder; sleep; suicide risk.