Depression and anxiety in policework: a systematic review

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this systematic review is to evaluate the extant literature on depression and anxiety disorders in police using a multinational data set to determine whether the prevalence of these trauma-related disorders (TRMDs) is elevated in comparison to the general population. Design/methodology/approach Systematic review was employed in combination with best-evidence narrative synthesis to evaluate these hypotheses. Findings Despite wide variability in prevalence outcomes across the literature, strong evidence supports the hypothesis that the prevalence of depression is elevated in police, whereas moderate evidence supports the same hypothesis regarding anxiety. Preliminary evaluation of commonly examined predictive factors for each disorder demonstrated weak and inconsistent associations between these TRMDs and sociodemographic factors. No studies evaluated the relationship between incident-related factors (e.g. severity or frequency of exposure) and TRMDs, thus, at present, the literature on police is almost entirely unable to address the question of whether the prevalence of these disorders in police is influenced by exposure to work-related trauma. Research limitations/implications The findings highlight a critical need for future work to address incident-related factors in predicting symptoms of depression and anxiety in police samples to determine whether these disorders bear a unique relationship to work-related traumatic exposure. Such work will significantly benefit the design and implementation of successful prevention and intervention strategies in the workplace. Originality/value The present review provides a comprehensive synthesis of a highly variable literature, highlighting critical gaps in our current knowledge of TRMDs in police and suggesting numerous avenues for future study.

Suicidal Ideation and Mental Health: The Moderating Effect of Coping Strategies in the Police Force

“…The studies that have examined the causes of depression in police officers have found that such demographic factors as age, educational level, or years of service are not relevant; while gender, marital status, and organizational factors (workload, effort, or support) can have greater importance [27].…”

“…Works concerning the prevalence of anxiety disorders in police officers show low rates, but not many studies have handled predictive variables. Those that have handled this question found that demographic factors are not relevant when predicting the level of anxiety; while character traits, a high workload, and low levels of reward are all associated with higher levels of anxiety [27].…”

The response of law enforcement agencies and police officers' experiences under the Covid-19 state of alarm in Catalonia, Spain

“…This situation forced SLBs to make new or different decisions in their jobs every day. The interaction and emotional engagement of SLBs and police officers with citizens, along with work environments with a high workload, unpredictability and ambiguity, may lead to symptoms of distress (Braquehais et al, 2020;Riedy et al, 2021;Tummers et al, 2015); PTSD, anxiety, insomnia and/or depression (Navin et al, 2020;Pappa et al, 2020;Wagner et al, 2019); alienation, depersonalization, emotional exhaustion, surface acting, burnout (Adams and Mastracci, 2020), decoupling and coping practices (Johnson and Vaughn, 2016;Knight, 2017); or even increased risk of suicide mortality (Baumert et al, 2014).…”

“…, 2020; Pappa et al. , 2020; Wagner et al. , 2019); alienation, depersonalization, emotional exhaustion, surface acting, burnout (Adams and Mastracci, 2020), decoupling and coping practices (Johnson and Vaughn, 2016; Knight, 2017); or even increased risk of suicide mortality (Baumert et al.…”

Occupational Stress in Spanish Police Officers: Validating the Effort-Reward Imbalance Questionnaire

“…Some studies have shown that the ERI has physiological effects, which can contribute to the development of stress-related diseases in police officers [ 21 , 22 ]. It has also been associated with symptoms of anxiety and depression in these professionals [ 23 ]. For example, some authors identified that those officers who perceived an imbalance between effort and reward were more likely to suffer from depression (OR 7.89, 95% CI 2.32–26.82), compared with their counterparts who did not perceive the imbalance [ 17 ].…”