RESEARCH OBJECTIVE: To assess perceived stress levels among State Fire Service (SFS) officers and identify relationships with demographic and occupational characteristics.
THE RESEARCH AND PROBLEM METHODS: Polish literature lacks research on stress differentiation within firefighter groups. Conducted from November 2025 to May 2026 at the Municipal Command of the State Fire Service in Krakow (KM PSP Kraków), the study involved 112 officers of the Voivodeship SFS in Krakow, recruited purposively. Officers on long-term sick leave, after a recent critical incident, or undergoing disciplinary proceedings were excluded. The Perceived Stress Scale PSS-10 (Polish adaptation by Z. Juczyński, 2001) was administered anonymously in paper-and-pencil format; participation was voluntary. Analyses in IBM SPSS 26 used t-tests, ANOVA, Pearson correlation, and chi-square tests.
THE PROCESS OF ARGUMENTATION: Hypotheses concerned the impact of gender, age, tenure, education, rank, and work schedule on stress, as well as the healthy worker effect and dominance of helplessness over self-efficacy.
RESEARCH RESULTS: SFS officers showed primarily low and moderate stress (95.5%; M = 15.71; SD = 6.55), consistent with the healthy worker effect; PSS-10 reliability was high (α = .858). Only education significantly differentiated stress: officers with master‘s degrees reported less stress (M = 14.37; SD = 6.65) than those with bachelor‘s degrees (M = 16.97; SD = 6.26; t(110) = 2.127; p = .036; d = 0.402); other characteristics showed no significant effects. Age correlated weakly with stress (r = .270; p = .016). Helplessness dominated over self-efficacy.
CONCLUSIONS, INNOVATIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS: Education appears to be a significant predictor of stress in the SFS, possibly reflecting greater decision-making autonomy, while the lack of influence from other variables indicates broadly universal occupational burdens. Psychoeducational programs for officers with bachelor‘s degrees and self-efficacy strengthening programs are recommended; with replication in larger samples, PSS-10 could support annual preventive examinations as an early warning.
stres, bezpieczeństwo publiczne, PSS-10, służby mundurowe, psychologia pracy
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