The Relationship of Type A Personality, Sensation Seeking Trait with General Health among Firefighters in Tehran City

Background: One of the conditions affecting mental health is working condition which should be considered more. Work-related stress can impair mental health. Firefighting because of exposure to hazardous agents and risky activities is a stressful and hard job. This research was conducted to investigate the relationship of type A personality and sensation seeking trait with general health among firefighters in Tehran City. Methods: The present research is a descriptive survey method. The study population comprised all firefighting staff of Tehran City in 2013-2014. A total of 150 firefighters were chosen by cluster sampling method. Three questionnaires were used in this study: Zuckerman’s sensation seeking scale (1979), type A personality scale Lichtenstein (1989), and general health questionnaire (GHQ) (1979). The results of questionnaires were analyzed with the Pearson correlation and the multivariate stepwise regression. SPSS16 software was used for data analysis. Results: The findings of the current research indicated that there is a positive and significant relationship between type A personality (r=0.672), sensation seeking (r=0.180) and general health (P<0.05). The mental health variable could be predict the intercept of both variables Tape A personality and sensation seeking (Reg=24.202, P<0.0001). Conclusion: According to the results of the study, there is relationship between type A personality and sensation seeking with general health among Tehran firefighters who are susceptible to mental pressure.