Mental health screening amongst police officers: factors associated with under-reporting of symptoms

Abstract

Background Mental health screening in the workplace aims to identify employees who are becoming symptomatic, in order to provide timely support and evidence-based interventions to those affected. Given the stigma associated with mental illness, accurate disclosure of mental health symptoms cannot be assumed. The present study sought to investigate factors associated with the accurate reporting of mental health symptoms amongst police officers. Methods A total of 90 serving police officers completed identical mental health screening surveys, one administered by the employer and the other anonymously by an independent organisation. Responses were then linked to compare differences in the number and severity of mental health symptoms reported on each questionnaire. Results Comparisons of matched self-report scores indicated that employees under-reported symptoms of mental health disorders when completing screening administered by their employer, with only 76.3% of symptoms declared. Under-reporting occurred regardless of gender and symptom type. Less senior staff (p = 0.05) and those with the most severe post-traumatic stress disorder and common mental disorder symptoms (p = 0.008) were significantly more likely to under-report symptoms. Conclusions Employer-administered mental health screening is not able to accurately capture all mental health symptoms amongst first responders. The fact that the severity of symptoms predicted the level of under-reporting means that simple changes to cut-off values cannot correct this problem.

Practices and Policies Around Wellness: Insights From the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force Network

“…Moreover, the development of helpful screening tools may be challenging. Police have been shown to be reluctant to be candid on screening tests, which may be one reason for the failures of prediction ( 33 , 34 ). Nonetheless, this question of how to choose and prepare investigators should remain a top priority of those concerned with wellness.…”

The psychological impact of COVID-19 on police officers

“…The number of years a police officer has been in a role and neuroticism has also been shown to be related to increased levels of trauma symptoms in some roles (Tehrani, 2018). Mental health stigma created by police officers believing that seeking help or talking to others about their mental health difficulties would be viewed negatively and detrimental to their careers has been identified (Marshall et al, 2021; Stuart, 2017) with the suggestion that stigma reduces the likelihood of officers seeking support and an under-reporting of psychological symptoms. Mental health stigma can make police officers vulnerable to developing more serious mental health problems due to a delay in seeking help.…”

Effectiveness of a multi-modal hospital-wide doctor mental health and wellness intervention

“…It is unclear if our results can be generalized to other countries or health systems. As anonymity was essential to encourage accurate self-reporting of mental health symptomatology [ 38 ], we were unable to link responses of returning participants across survey timepoints and cannot assess individual-level changes following the intervention. There are several limitations that affect the reliability and robustness of the findings and may have contributed to the null effects on mental health outcomes.…”