Depressive Symptoms Among Police Officers: Associations with Personality and Psychosocial Factors

Details

• Personal Author:
  Allison P ; Andrew, Michael E. ; Innes K ; Jenkins EN ; Violanti JM
• Description:
  Protective psychosocial factors may reduce the risk of stress-related illnesses in policing. We assessed the association between protective factors and depressive symptoms among 242 police officers. Participants were from the Buffalo Cardio-Metabolic Occupational Police Stress (BCOPS) Study (2004-2014). Coping, hardiness, personality traits, and social support were assessed at baseline. Depressive symptoms were measured at baseline and follow-up using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression (CES-D) scale. The relationship between protective factors and the rate of change in depressive symptoms was assessed using linear regression. Logistic regression evaluated associations between protective factors and new-onset depression. Of participants free of depression at baseline, 23 (10.7%) developed probable depression during the follow-up. Odds of new-onset depression increased with increasing neuroticism (adjusted odds ratio [OR(ADJ)] = 1.22, 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.11-1.35) and passive coping [OR(ADJ) = 2.07, 95% CI, 1.06-4.03]. Increasing agreeableness [OR(ADJ) = 0.87, 95% CI, 0.78-0.96) and conscientiousness [OR(ADJ) = 0.90, 95% CI, 0.84-0.98] were associated with decreased odds of new-onset depression. New-onset depression was not significantly associated with other coping subscales, hardiness, or social support. There were no significant associations between protective factors and change in depressive symptom scores. This study suggests certain personality characteristics and passive coping may be associated with increased odds of new-onset depression in police officers. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Behavior Law Enforcement Men Mental Health Nervous System Occupational Health Safety Women
• Keywords:
  Author Keywords: Depression Behavior Patterns Coping Coping Behavior Exposure Assessment Hardiness Humans Law Enforcement Law Enforcement Officer LEO Mental Health Mental Processes Personality Personality Traits Police Officers Protective Measures Psychological Effects Psychological Stress Psychology Psychosocial Factors Regression Analysis Sociological Factors Statistical Analysis Stress-related Illnesses

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• ISSN:
  0882-0783
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant ; Contract
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• 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
• Pages in Document:
  67-77
• Volume:
  34
• Issue:
  1
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20055654
• Citation:
  J Police Crim Psychol 2019 Mar; 34(1):67-77
• Contact Point Address:
  Emily N. Jenkins, Biostatistics and Epidemiology Branch, Health Effects Laboratory Division, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, 1095 Willowdale Road, Mailstop L-4050, Morgantown, WV 26505, USA
• Email:
  mhu6@cdc.gov
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2019
• NORA Priority Area:
  Public Safety
• Performing Organization:
  State University of New York at Buffalo
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20100901
• Source Full Name:
  Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology
• End Date:
  20150831
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:6fb55d740cadc572e7babf4de9e126122791c3e784814154f70e0c3261273bec3479a0504a3eeb5188be735efb72f99f52948a8faf0d6b400193ecc8496cba38
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/213448/cdc_213448_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 458.79 KB ]