Police Stress and Depressive Symptoms: Role of Coping and Hardiness

Details

• Personal Author:
  Allison P ; Andrew, Michael E. ; Fekedulegn D ; Hartley TA ; McCanlies E ; Mnatsakanova A ; Violanti JM
• Description:
  Purpose: Chronic exposure to occupational stress may lead to depressive symptoms in police officers. The association between police stress and depressive symptoms and the potential influences of coping and hardiness were evaluated. The paper aims to discuss this issue. Design/methodology/approach: Stress level was assessed in the Buffalo Cardio-Metabolic Occupational Police Stress Study (2004-2009) with the Spielberger Police Stress Survey. The frequency and severity of events at work were used to calculate stress indices for the past year. The Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression (CES-D) Scale was used to measure depressive symptoms during the past week. Linear regression was used to evaluate the association between the stress indices and depressive symptom scores. Models were adjusted for age, sex, race, smoking status and alcohol intake, and stratified by median values for coping (passive, active and support seeking) and hardiness (control, commitment and challenge) to assess effect modification. Findings: Among the 388 officers (73.2 percent men), a significant positive association was observed between total stress and the CES-D score (β=1.98 (SE=0.36); p<0.001). Lower CES-D scores were observed for officers who reported lower passive coping (β=0.94 (SE=0.45); p=0.038) and higher active coping (β=1.41 (SE=0.44); p=0.002), compared with their counterparts. Officers higher in hardiness had lower CES-D scores, particularly for commitment (β=0.86 (SE=0.35); p=0.016) and control (β=1.58 (SE=0.34); p<0.001). Originality/value: Results indicate that high active coping and hardiness modify the effect of work stress in law enforcement, acting to reduce depressive symptoms. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Emergency Responders Law Enforcement Mental Health Occupational Health Safety Stress, Psychological
• Keywords:
  Author Keywords: Coping Depression Emergency Responders Hardiness Job Stress Law Enforcement Workers Police Officers Psychological Effects Psychological Reactions Stress
• ISSN:
  1363-951X
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• 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:
  247-261
• Volume:
  43
• Issue:
  2
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20058167
• Citation:
  Policing 2020 Apr; 43(2):247-261
• Contact Point Address:
  Penelope Allison, Health Effects Laboratory Division, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Morgantown, West Virginia, USA
• Email:
  goz2@cdc.gov
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2020
• NORA Priority Area:
  Public Safety
• Performing Organization:
  State University of New York at Buffalo
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20150901
• Source Full Name:
  Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies and Management
• End Date:
  20190831
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:2ac1a314a088c3eb8f0aa0efc0c7b0b0186057972288ce1e28d37c26e2f00b558c39c2b8744e92ebae736e294a86cb826a9890bb3bd982ee0aa7fd4c85258931
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/221304/cdc_221304_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 262.13 KB ]