Calling as a double-edged sword for posttraumatic outcomes among Air Force pilots: The mediating roles of adaptive and maladaptive emotion regulation

Past studies on calling have primarily focused on the positive aspects of calling, but there have been voices pointing to the potential adverse impact of calling on mental health. This study examined the mediating effect of cognitive emotion regulation strategies, comprising adaptive and maladaptive emotion regulation strategy, to elucidate the two-sided effects of calling on trauma-related mental health. Participants were 268 Air Force pilots in the Republic of Korea who provided self-report data two times at a one-month interval. The results confirmed that calling had positive effects on both adaptive and maladaptive emotion regulation. Additionally, adaptive emotion regulation positively predicted posttraumatic growth, and maladaptive emotion regulation positively predicted posttraumatic stress disorder. Further, the link between calling and posttraumatic growth was partially mediated by adaptive emotion regulation, while that between calling and posttraumatic stress disorder was fully mediated by maladaptive emotion regulation. Hence, this study has empirically verified previous findings pertaining to the two-sided effects of calling on psychological health. Based on these results, we discuss the theoretical implications, practical implications, and some directions for further studies.