Psychosocial factors in police academy recruits

Details

• Personal Author:
  Andrew, Michael E. ; Burchfiel CM ; Joseph PN ; Mnatsakanova A ; Violanti JM
• Description:
  PURPOSE: To examine psychosocial factors among police recruits in a 24-week high stress training environment. METHODS: A total of 118 recruits (77% of first visit respondents) completed questionnaires at all three time points during their 6-month academy training (week 1, 10 and 23). Psychosocial factors including depression (CESD), external life events, psychological well-being (Affect Balance Scale), and social support were assessed. Social support consisted of two dimensions: 1) internal-fellow troopers and teachers, and 2) external-spouses, parents, etc. Linear mixed models regression was used to analyze longitudinal data across the three visits. RESULTS: Longitudinal assessment revealed that external life events score increased significantly over time (p-trend = 0.014), whereas mean CES-D score decreased although not significantly (p-trend = 0.101). Mean CESD scores increased significantly with increasing tertiles of life event scores only at the last two visits (p-trend = 0.023 and 0.006, respectively). Adjustments for age and marital status did not alter results. Cross-sectional analyses showed significant and inverse associations between depression and internal social support at visit two and three (p-trend = 0.016 and 0.001, respectively); external social support was not associated with depression. These associations were more evident among unmarried than married recruits. CONCLUSION: Internal social support from fellow troopers and instructors was significantly associated with reduced levels of depressive symptoms among officers in high stress training. This assessment among police recruits may provide insight into potential coping strategies which would assist future officers in training and subsequently in their stressful occupation. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Behavior Coping Skills Fatigue Law Enforcement Mental Health Occupational Health Safety Staff Development Stress, Psychological Surveys And Questionnaires
• Keywords:
  Behavior-patterns Coping-behavior Job-stress Law-enforcement-workers Police-officers Psychological-fatigue Questionnaires Sociological-factors Training
• ISSN:
  1047-2797
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Contract
• Genre:
  Abstract or Summary
• Place as Subject:
  New York ; OSHA Region 2 ; OSHA Region 3 ; West Virginia
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  HELD - Health Effects Laboratory Division
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  20
• Issue:
  9
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20037943
• Citation:
  Ann Epidemiol 2010 Sep; 20(9):721
• Contact Point Address:
  A. Mnatsakanova, Health Effects Laboratory Division, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, 1095 Willowdale Road, Morgantown WV, 26505
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2010
• NORA Priority Area:
  Services ; Public Safety
• Performing Organization:
  State University of New York at Buffalo
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Source Full Name:
  Annals of Epidemiology
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:51c3278155fef02015a3e2213bebf7056278dda7f56149398c42b7801d65d28f779c4d0b508f26b546f79cb0a3e5949f9ad4c7fbda7de51a68304205ddd482e0
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/191849/cdc_191849_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 29.61 KB ]