Avaliação do Estado Mental: Comparação entre grupos de policiais militares do Distrito Federal com e sem indicadores clínicos

Abstract

The present study aims to identify mental state disturbances associated with clinical indicators of mental health problems in a sample of military police officers from the Federal District. 263 police officers participated in this cross-sectional descriptive convenience sampling research. Participants responded to the Mental State Assessment Battery (BAEM), which assesses 11 dimensions of mental functioning. Data were obtained online and analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The sample was categorized into two groups: with and without clinical indicators of mental health problems. The mean BAEM scores of these two groups were compared using the Welch’s t-test. The effect size was examined using the Hedge’s g method. The results indicated that police officers with clinical indicators tended to present higher BAEM scores than those without these indicators. The most altered psychological domains were attention, memory, executive functions, depressive and anxious thoughts, impulsive and restless behaviors, negative affects, emotional instability and intensity, and sexual, somatic and autonomy problems. Mapping these disturbances serves to build indicators of clinical mental health care for military police officers in the Federal District.