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Using the Conservation of Resources Theory and the Self-Determination Theory1-3 as theoretical frameworks, a model for this study was tested, which considers firefighters’ autonomous motivation, work–family conflict, and well-being. The hypothesized model was tested using a sample of 201 firefighters from the Special Civil Protection Force in Portugal. Results revealed that autonomous work motivation was significantly related to both work–family conflict and satisfaction with life. In addition, work–family conflict was negatively related to satisfaction with life. More interestingly, the results showed that work–family conflict acted as a mechanism that helped to explain the relationship between autonomous motivation and satisfaction with life. These results underline the importance of understanding the mechanisms through which higher satisfaction with life occurs, with a view to the creation of appropriate interventions.

The paradigm of this study is positive occupational psychology, with the job demands-resources model as the research model and the Conservation of Resources theory as the general stress theory. The research design analyses the job demands-resources model's dynamic nature with normal and reversed causation effects between work characteristics and psychological well-being among Portuguese firefighters. In addition, we analyse a positive (engagement) dimension and a negative (burnout) dimension in the firefighters' well-being, because previously, studies have merely focused on the strain or stress of these professionals. The research questionnaire was distributed to a sample of 651 firefighters, and a two-wave full panel design was used. Cross-lagged panel analyses indicated that the causal direction of the relationship between organizational demands and burnout is reciprocal. Also, we found that the reciprocal model, including cross-lagged reciprocal relationships between organizational demands/supervisory support and burnout/engagement, respectively, is what fits the data best. Practical implications to develop organizational change programmes and suggestions for future research regarding the promotion of occupational health are discussed.

This study reports an intervention programme to promote job resources (social support) to increase firefighters' psychological well-being (burnout and engagement), using the Job Demand-Resource Model as the theoretical model. Participants were firefighters from an elite Portuguese organization. The intervention consisted of a leadership stress management workshop for middle supervisors that lasted 21 hours spread over 3 days. The intervention group (n = 67) were subordinates whose immediate supervisors participated in the workshop, and the control group (n = 37) were subordinates whose supervisors did not. All participants filled out questionnaires before the workshop and 4 months after. The repeated measures ANOVA revealed as expected that Time x Intervention interaction increased colleagues' social support, and marginally also increased firefighters' vigor. However, contrary to expected the intervention also increased chronic demands. Discussion focuses on the importance of understanding the pro...

This study analyses the expansion of the Job Demands–Resources (JD-R) model with the introduction of proactive coping, in both health impairment and motivational processes. 1487 rescue mission firefighters from the 18 districts of Portugal participated in the study. Through structural equation modelling the results revealed that proactive coping partially mediated the relationship between job demands and burnout, as well as the relationship between job resources and engagement. The results suggest that this personal resource also has an effect on the promotion of positive occupational well-being indicators, in addition to the mitigation of negative well-being indicators. Practical implications for the field of occupational health psychology are also discussed.