Coping Strategies and Collective Efficacy as Mediators Between Stress Appraisal and Quality of Life Among Rescue Workers Gabriele Prati, Luca Pietrantoni, and Elvira Cicognani University of Bologna Fire-fighters, paramedics, and emergency medical technicians routinely con- front potentially traumatic events in the course of their jobs. The mediation role of coping strategies and collective efficacy in the relationship between stress appraisal and quality of life was examined (compassion satisfaction, compassion fatigue, and burnout) in a correlational study. Participants were 463 Italian rescue workers (fire fighters and different categories of emer- gency health care professionals). Participants filled out measures of stress appraisal, collective efficacy, coping strategies, and quality of life. The results showed that emotion and support coping, self-blame coping, and self-distraction mediated the relationship between stress appraisal and com- passion fatigue. Moreover, collective efficacy, self-blame coping, and reli- gious coping mediated the relationship between stress appraisal and burn- out. Finally, collective efficacy, self-blame coping, and problem-focused coping mediated the relationship between stress appraisal and compassion satisfaction. Cognitive restructuring and denial did not mediate the relation between stress appraisal and any of the quality of life dimensions. Keywords: rescue personnel, stress appraisal, coping, collective efficacy, quality of life Rescue workers, such as fire and ambulance officers, tend to experience similar occupational stress events which may affect their quality of life (Brough, 2004). Exposure to work-related traumatic or critical incidents is associated with adverse health outcomes such as posttraumatic reactions and burnout (Benedek, Fullerton, & Ursano, 2007). However, the literature has been focused mainly on negative indicators of quality of life while the investigation of positive indicators This article was published Online First February 14, 2011. Gabriele Prati, Luca Pietrantoni, and Elvira Cicognani, Department of the Education Sciences, University of Bologna. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Gabriele Prati, Diparti- mento di scienze dell’educazione, Universita ` di Bologna, via Filippo Re, 6-40126 Bologna, Italy. E-mail: gabriele.prati@unibo.it International Journal of Stress Management © 2011 American Psychological Association 2011, Vol. 18, No. 2, 181–195 1072-5245/11/$12.00 DOI: 10.1037/a0021298 181 This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers. This article is intended solely for the personal use of the individual user and is not to be disseminated broadly.