Critical Incidents and Chronic Stressors at Work:Their Impact on Forensic Doctors

Abstract

Workers in medium- or high-risk professions are often confronted with critical incidents at theworkplace. The impact of these acute stressors may be serious and enduring. Many workers alsoexperience chronic job stressors, such as work overload or role conflicts. This study examined thefrequently neglected relationship of acute and chronic stressors with self-reported health symptoms,such as posttraumatic responses, fatigue, and burnout. This association was investigated ina sample of forensic doctors in the Netherlands (N 84). It was found that the more traumaticevents the respondents experienced, the more problems they reported in coping with the traumaticevents. Chronic job stressors were associated with posttraumatic responses (intrusions andavoidances) and with burnout and fatigue.