Association between police officers’ stress and perceived health

Abstract

Police experience occupational stress in two categories: operational (i.e. long hours, shift work, crime scenes) and organizational (e.g. favouritism, bureaucratic red tape) stress. High occupational stress may harm officers’ health perceptions, decreasing individual policing capacity. This study surveyed the relationship between operational and organizational stress and perceived health among 1,220 Serbian police officers (female = 232 [19%]; mean age 39.1 ± 8.4 years). Participants answered a single general health question, a 20-question operational police stress questionnaire, and a 20-question organizational police stress questionnaire. Perceived health was negatively associated with operational and organizational stress. Moderate negative associations were found between age and health and obesity status and health. When age groups were analysed separately, older officers with good or great health reported lower operational and organizational stress levels. These results suggest that better-perceived health may be protective against stress for police officers.