The Effectiveness of Positive Psychotherapy on Quality of Life, Happiness, Semantic Level of Firefighters

Firefighters are among the people who face all kinds of painful and stressful situations due to their work. Therefore, due to stressful conditions, the mental health of firefighters should always be considered. This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of positive psychotherapy on quality of life, happiness, and semantic level of firefighters in Isfahan in the spring of 2020.

The present quasi-experimental study was conducted based on pre-test-post-test with control- follow-up and one-month follow-up period. The statistical population of the study included all firefighters in Isfahan. Among them, 30 people, two groups of 15 people (test and control) were selected using random sampling method. To collect data, the World Health Organization Quality of Life Instrument-Short Form (WHOQOL-BREF), Oxford Happiness (OxH), and Semantic Level Determination (Dsl) questionnaires were used. Positive treatment sessions were performed on the test group during eight 90-minute sessions and the control group did not receive any intervention. The data obtained from the questionnaires were analyzed using repeated measures analysis of variance.

The results showed that there was a significant difference between the mean scores of pre-test and post-test and follow-up in the variables of semantic level, quality of life, and happiness. This indicates that positive psychotherapy was able to significantly change the post-test scores and follow-up of semantic level, quality of life, and happiness compared to the pre-test stage (p <0.01).

Given that positive psychotherapy has been effective on quality of life, happiness, and semantic level of firefighters, it is recommended that counselors use this intervention method to improve the mental health of firefighters.