Abstract: To understand the mental health status of newly recruited firefighters during the intensive training period and explore the impact of social influence factors on mental health, a self-made basic information questionnaire for firefighters, symptom checklist (SCL90), self-rating anxiety scale (SAS) and self-rating depression scale (SDS) were used to assess 569 newly recruited firefighters in the fire and rescue brigade of one provincial-level municipality during the intensive training period and analyze their mental health status and social influence factors. The overall mental health condition of the firefighters in this evaluation is at normal level, which is better than that of serving firefighters. The total score and each factor score of SCL-90, the standard score of SAS scale and the standard score of SDS scale were significantly lower than the firefighters from the specialized fire and rescue division in the same provincial-level municipality and the forest fire and rescue division of one autonomous region evaluated by our hospital in the same period as well as the chinese adult standard models. Logistic regression analysis shows that the significant influence factors on the mental health of firefighters during the intensive training period include veteran, parental physical health, age, alcohol drinking, physical injury and educational background. Understanding the mental health statues of newly recruited firefighters and accurately identifying the influencing factors on the their mental health condition during the intensive training period are significant in providing guidance for psychological intervention for firefighters in this period. Firefighters in the intensive training period shall complete psychological training under the supervision of team doctors. One-to-one targeted psychological counseling for firefighters based on different social influencing factors shall be carried out during the intensive training period. For firefighters who meet the diagnostic criteria for mental illness, timely psychological treatment should be provided. A higher level of social support should also be offered.

Key words: firefighters, intensive training period, mental health, influence factor