scholarly journals Gender-associated analysis of high-risk groups for mental health problems in law-enforcement officers

2017 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. e020476
Author(s):  
Vitaliy Omelyanovich
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Law Enforcement ◽  
Police Officers ◽  
Mental Health Problems ◽  
Risk Measures ◽  
Law Enforcement Officers ◽  
Psychological Adaptation ◽  
Risk Groups ◽  
Health Problems ◽  
Psychosomatic Diseases

Background Mental disorders prevention in specific professional groups is impossible without scientifically substantiated allocation of groups with increased neuropsychiatric and psychosomatic disorders risk. This fact indicates the need to study the gender, age and professional characteristics in law enforcement workers who already have problems with psychological adaptation. Methods and materials The study involved 1630 law enforcement officers (1,301 men and 329 women) who were evaluated with the Symptom Checklist-90-R (SCL-90-R). As the statistical methods were used the partial regression calculation coefficient η2, cohort calculation risk measures, φ*-total Fischer transformation method, and single-factor dispersion Fisher's analysis. Results According to gender characteristics, the problems with psychological adaptation in men were significantly less pronounced than in women (φ*=1.79; p=0.37). These data were confirmed by the cohort calculation and risk measures results: men – 0.261, women – 0.349 (the psychological disadaptation risk in women was 1.3 times higher than men). There weren’t any statistically significant age differences between the representatives of both gender groups with psychological adaptation disturbances and healthy ones (φ* ≤1.19; p≥0.1). Among patients who suffered from psychosomatic diseases, were men over the age of 35 (φ* ≥2.28; p≤0.0001) and women over 26 years old (φ*= 2.16; p=0.014) prevailed. There were significantly fewer people among men with psychosomatic illnesses with 4-9 years of professional working experience than in a healthy group. On the contrary, there were significantly more patients in a law enforcement workers group with 10-15 years working experience than in the healthy one (φ*>1.73; p<0.0001). Conclusion The risk of mental health problems in female police officers is much higher than in men. Disadaptation development is not related to the age and length of working experience in the police. Men with working experience greater than 10 years should be included in the risk group for psychosomatic diseases.

Factors Associated With Police Decisions on Immediate Responses to Intimate Partner Violence

2017 ◽  
Vol 35 (15-16) ◽  
pp. 2993-3010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Merete Berg Nesset ◽  
Johan Håkon Bjørngaard ◽  
Jim Aage Nøttestad ◽  
Richard Whittington ◽  
Cecilie Lynum ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Intimate Partner Violence ◽  
Police Officers ◽  
Partner Violence ◽  
Mental Health Problems ◽  
Intimate Partner ◽  
Health Problems ◽  
Violence Risk ◽  
Lethal Violence ◽  
Emergency Situations

Police officers are often the first responders to intimate partner violence. The aim of the study was to examine the association between structured police assessments on-site in cases of intimate partner violence, and decisions about immediate arrest of the perpetrator and/or relocation of the victim. Data were extracted from police reports on 124 emergency visits in cases of intimate partner violence perpetrated by men toward women. Six out of totally 15 items of the intimate partner violence risk assessment measure B-SAFER were used by the front line police officers as the basis for decisions on whether or not to arrest the perpetrator or relocate the victim. The six items: perpetrator violent acts, violent threats or thoughts, escalation of violence, substance use problems, mental health problems, and breach of no-contact order, were selected on the basis of their utility in emergency situations. There were increased odds of arrest on-site if the perpetrator was physically violent (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 2.8, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.0-7.7) or had substance problems (AOR = 2.3, 95% CI = [1.0- 5.2]). There were increased odds of victim relocation if the perpetrator had mental health problems (AOR = 7.4, 95% CI = [2.4-23.1]) or if children were present on-site (AOR = 3.1, 95% CI = [1.1- 8.6]). In contrast, escalation of violence was associated with reduced odds of the perpetrator being arrested (AOR = 0.4, 95% CI = [0.1- 0.9]) or the victim being relocated (AOR = 0.4, 95% CI = [0.1- 1.3]). The finding that the police did not immediately respond to escalation, potentially signaling lethal violence needs to be addressed.

scholarly journals The Relationship between Dog Ownership, Psychopathological Symptoms and Health-Benefitting Factors in Occupations at Risk for Traumatization

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (7) ◽  
pp. 2562 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johanna Lass-Hennemann ◽  
Sarah K. Schäfer ◽  
M. Roxanne Sopp ◽  
Tanja Michael
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Police Officers ◽  
Mental Health Problems ◽  
Health Problems ◽  
Pet Ownership ◽  
Cross Sectional Survey ◽  
Psychopathological Symptoms ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Dog Owners ◽  
The Relationship

Individuals working in high-risk occupations (e.g., emergency staff) are exposed to high levels of occupational stress including traumatic events. Correspondingly, several studies report high rates of mental health problems among these occupations. Pet ownership has been associated with better mental health. However, to date a study on the association between pet ownership and indicators of mental health in these occupations is missing. The present cross-sectional survey (N = 580) investigated pet ownership, attachment to pets, health-benefitting factors (i.e., sense of coherence, trait-resilience, locus of control) and psychopathological symptoms (i.e., general mental health problems, posttraumatic stress, burnout) in medical staff, police officers, and firefighters. Dog owners and non-dog owners showed comparable levels of psychopathological distress and health-benefitting factors. Compared to cat owners, dog owners demonstrated stronger emotional attachment to their pet. Moreover, a stronger attachment was also linked to higher levels of psychopathological symptoms and lower levels of health-benefitting factors. However, the relationship between attachment to pets and health-benefitting factors could be explained by their overlap with psychopathological symptom levels. Overall, our findings are not in line with the notion that pet ownership generally has a health-benefitting effect. Future studies need to investigate circumstances that modulate positive effects of pet ownership.

scholarly journals Disrupted Rhythms of Life, Work and Entertainment Behaviours and Their Associations with Mental Health Problems under the Stress of COVID-19 Epidemic: A Survey in 5854 Chinese People with Different Backgrounds

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Min Yang ◽  
Ping He ◽  
Xiaoming Xu ◽  
Jing Wang ◽  
Yanjun Wang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Health Status ◽  
Mental Health Problems ◽  
Health Problems ◽  
Annual Income ◽  
Depression And Anxiety ◽  
Related Factors ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Psychosomatic Diseases ◽  
Life Work

Abstract BACKGROUND and OBJECTIVE The rhythms of life, work and entertainment behaviours are considered as the external behavioural manifestations of biological rhythm.To evaluate the distinctive disrupted rhythms of behaviours and their associations with mental health problems in people with different backgrounds under the stress of COVID-19 epidemic.SUBJECTS AND METHODS A cross-sectional study was conducted from 10-17 March 2020 under the stress of COVID-19 epidemic.A structured e-questionnaire containing general information,rhythm scale(subscale1 for life-work rhythms and subscale2 for entertainment rhythm) and Zung's self-rating depression and anxiety scale(SDS and SAS) were filled and the data were analysed.RESULTS Overall 5854 participants were included.Significant differences were found in rhythm, SDS and SAS scores among people with different backgrounds (all P<0.05). Subjects with female gender and poor health status were mostly suffered from disrupted rhythms of life- work-entertainment behaviours, combined with depression and anxiety. Nurses and subjects being divorced or with chronic disease with psychosomatic diseases were mostly suffered from disrupted rhythms of life-work behaviours, combined with depression and anxiety. Subjects with aged 26-30 years, or annual income of 50,000-100,000CY were mostly suffered from disrupted rhythms of life-work combined with depression. Subjects with income over 300,000CY were mostly suffered from disrupted rhythm of entertainment combined with anxiety.The prevalence rates of depression and anxiety in people with the high-scores of rhythm disruption increased by 34.50% and 47.16%, respectively, compared with those with low-scores.People with the high-scores of rhythm disruption had higher SDS and SAS scores, compared to those with low scores (all P<0.001). The independent related factors of disrupted rhythms included gender,age,marital status, health status,annual income and chronic diseases with psychosomatic diseases using logistic regression.The disrupted rhythms of life and work behaviours was positively correlated with both SDS and SAS scores.CONCLUSIONS The disrupted rhythms of life, work and entertainment behaviours were closely associated with mental health problems.The disrupted rhythms of behaviours are frequent and fluxible,triggering more severe mental health problems under the stress of COVID-19 epidemic.The physicians should be aware of their importance when evaluating their interviewees or patients’ mental health and achieving maximization of therapeutic efficacy by integrating the intervention of circadian rhythm and its behaviour.

scholarly journals Increasing Mental Health Literacy in Law Enforcement to Improve Best Practices in Policing—Introduction of an Empirically Derived, Modular, Differentiated, and End-User Driven Training Design

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katharina Lorey ◽  
Jörg M. Fegert
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Law Enforcement ◽  
Mental Disorders ◽  
Training Program ◽  
Police Officers ◽  
Mentally Ill ◽  
Law Enforcement Officers ◽  
Mental Illnesses ◽  
Training Curriculum ◽  
End User

Objective: Law enforcement officers often have contact to persons who show symptoms of mental disorders. Adequately designed training is necessary for developing the best possible practices in policing when coming into contact with mentally ill people, and may help to expand their general knowledge on mental disorders. To achieve a sustainable implementation of training content in daily policing work, the acceptance and proactive integration of methods by the training participants is essential.Method: This study investigates an exemplary modular training curriculum based on a survey with 2,228 German police officers (28.2% female, 71.8% male) concerning their needs and challenges when coming into contact with persons with mental disorders. This empirical end-user driven approach was used to adapt existing training concepts to the current needs and interests of law enforcement personnel in order to maximize compliance.Results: The training program draft includes basic modules which are intended to be of direct interest to all police officers, such as mental disorders with high policing relevance, encountering suicidal patients, (non-directive) communication and de-escalation skills, and mental hygiene in policing. They are arranged in more specialized modules that address specific target group audiences within police forces and the training curriculum provides information about genuine risks and self-protection, trauma sensitivity, and interaction with children and victims among other contents. The self-selectable, modular, and empirically-based continued training program also includes an introduction to local mental health service professionals and networks, trialogue sequences, and situational role play scenarios.Conclusion: Due to frequent contact law enforcement officers have to mentally ill people, improved training designed to maximize knowledge and the integration of trained methods is necessary. Gaining acceptance and proactive support by trainees is ensured through end-user driven implementation of specialized and differentiated up-to-date training programs. Our results showcase how police officers' perspectives on persons with mental illnesses is a main aspect that can and should be used to encourage training course designs.

Remarkable lives: Charlotte Tetley in conversation with Jerome Carson

2015 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 119-122
Author(s):  
Charlotte Tetley ◽  
Jerome Carson
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Police Officers ◽  
Mental Health Problems ◽  
Human Mind ◽  
Health Problems ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Local Police ◽  
Childhood Mental Health ◽  
Biographical Account

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide a profile of Charlotte Tetley. Design/methodology/approach – Charlotte provides a short biographical account and is then interviewed by Jerome. In the biography Charlotte talks about her long battle with mental health problems and treatments that did not help. Findings – Charlotte’s mental health problems started at the age of 12 and eased when she left home at 17. It was in her final year at university that her problems returned. Research limitations/implications – Charlotte’s story is one of not just surviving long term mental health problems, but of coping with adversity and becoming a stronger person. It is one of thousands of remarkable survivor accounts. Practical implications – The story of the involvement of local police officers in Charlotte’s admission to hospital, is once more a sad indictment of the brutality handed out to many sufferers in acute mental distress. Social implications – Considering her background, 12 different schools, two exclusions, childhood mental health problems, Charlotte’s story shows the triumph of the human mind against social disadvantage. She is “somebody who conquered the storm”. Originality/value – Charlotte was helped by her indomitable spirit, by her mother, a therapist and a friend who stood by her. She tells us she can never be the same person she was before her mental health problems, but she has grown and in the process became a stronger person.

scholarly journals Survey of Frontline Police Officers’ Responses and Requirements in Psychiatric Emergency Situations

2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 237
Author(s):  
Kyung Ja Lee ◽  
Kyunghee Lee ◽  
Yeong Mi Lee ◽  
Hyun Seok Choi
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Data Analysis ◽  
Police Officers ◽  
Mental Health Problems ◽  
Site Response ◽  
Educational Programs ◽  
Health Problems ◽  
Verbal Expression ◽  
Emergency Situations ◽  
Cross Tabulation

Police officers in South Korea can be summoned to incidents involving individuals with mental health problems. Therefore, for officers to communicate effectively in such situations, education is necessary. Accordingly, this study obtained frontline police officers’ perceptions of such educational programs and their suggestions regarding supplementary field manuals. Data were collected from 471 frontline police officers from 8 July until 9 August 2020. Data analysis incorporated frequency analysis, cross tabulation, text mining, and meaning network analysis. Participation in educational programs related to people with mental health problems depended on officers’ field experience with such persons (χ2 = 7.432, p = 0.006). Among officers who received educational programs, most expressed satisfaction with the programs (χ2 = 72.243, p < 0.001) and believed that these facilitated problem-solving (χ2 = 7.574, p = 0.023), improved understanding of people with mental health problems (χ2 = 10.220, p = 0.006), enabled better communication with such individuals (χ2 = 21.588, p < 0.001), and improved confidence in clarity of verbal expression in conversations with them (χ2 = 6.634, p = 0.036). An on-site response manual for communicating with people with mental health problems would represent an effective educational intervention to improve police judgment and responses.

scholarly journals Correlates of mental health in occupations at risk for traumatization: A cross-sectional study

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah K. Schäfer ◽  
Marie Roxanne Sopp ◽  
Marlene Staginnus ◽  
Johanna Lass-Hennemann ◽  
Tanja Michael
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Posttraumatic Stress ◽  
Police Officers ◽  
Mental Health Problems ◽  
Health Problems ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
General Mental Health ◽  
Staff Members ◽  
Stress Symptoms ◽  
Trait Resilience

Abstract Background Hospitals, police stations, and fire departments are highly demanding work places. Staff members are regularly exposed to various stressors including traumatic events. Correspondingly, several studies report high rates of mental health issues among these occupations. Nevertheless, despite these challenging circumstances, some staff members manage to sustain their mental health. The current study is the first to investigate correlates of mental health among three different highly demanding occupations. Methods The present cross-sectional survey investigated health-benefitting factors (sense of coherence – SOC, trait resilience, locus of control – LOC) and psychopathological symptoms (general mental health problems, posttraumatic stress, burnout) in medical staff ( n = 223), police officers ( n = 257), and firefighters ( n = 100). Results Among all occupations, SOC, trait resilience, and an internal LOC were negatively associated with general mental health problems, posttraumatic stress, and burnout symptoms. By contrast, all these outcome measures were positively correlated with an external LOC. Multiple regression models including all health-benefitting factors as predictors explained 56% of the variance in general mental health problems and 27% in posttraumatic stress symptoms. Among all occupations, SOC was the strongest predictor of both general mental health problems and posttraumatic stress symptoms. Multigroup path analyses revealed minor differences across occupations, mainly driven by a stronger influence of LOC in police officers. Conclusion Across all occupations, SOC was identified as the most important health-benefitting factor. Future longitudinal studies should further examine the causal link between health-benefitting factors and mental distress in different work places. Such studies will also allow for further development and evaluation of resilience promoting programs.

Exploring the relationship between psychological distress and likelihood of help seeking in construction workers: The role of talking to workmates and knowing how to get help

Work ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 67 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-54
Author(s):  
Janine Chapman ◽  
Ann M. Roche ◽  
Vinita Duraisingam ◽  
Brooke Ledner ◽  
Jim Finnane ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Psychological Distress ◽  
Help Seeking ◽  
Mental Health Problems ◽  
Risk Groups ◽  
Health Problems ◽  
Construction Workers ◽  
Multiple Mediation ◽  
Knowing How ◽  
Male Dominated

BACKGROUND: Mental health problems are prevalent in male-dominated industries such as construction, where suicide rates are higher than the population average and help seeking is typically low. OBJECTIVE: To examine psychological distress in Australian construction workers and its relationship with help seeking via two hypothesised mediators: confidence in knowing how to get help and confidence in talking to workmates about mental health issues. METHODS: Workers (N = 511) completed a survey that assessed psychological distress, likelihood of help seeking, and confidence in knowing how to get help and talking to workmates. Bootstrapped multiple mediation analysis was performed using the PROCESS macro for SPSS. RESULTS: Psychological distress was higher than national estimates and most prevalent in men aged 25–44. Controlling for age and ability to recognise personal signs of mental health problems, psychological distress negatively predicted likelihood of help seeking. This relationship was partially mediated by knowing how to get help and confidence in talking to workmates. CONCLUSIONS: Results highlight the need to redress and mitigate mental health problems among high-risk groups of male workers. It provides useful guidance on multilevel workplace strategies to reduce stigma, enhance confidence and comfort in the process of seeking help and support in construction and other male-dominated industries.

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