Mindfulness-based resilience training to reduce health risk, stress reactivity, and aggression among law enforcement officers: A feasibility and preliminary efficacy trial

Christopher, Michael; Hunsinger, Matthew; Goerling, Lt. Richard J.; Bowen, Sarah; Rogers, Brant; Gross, Cynthia R.; Dapolonia, Eli; Pruessner, Jens C.

doi:10.1016/j.psychres.2018.03.059

Cited by 123 publications

(137 citation statements)

References 143 publications

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“…However, this recent study implemented the intervention in another context. Resilience training is effective in reducing health risk, stress reactivity, and aggression among law enforcement officers who are highly exposed by a great level of psychological distress and work-related risk in health (Christopher et al, 2018). Resilience also contributes to the reduction of psychological symptoms in as many as 170 family members with a critical illness (i.e., depression, anxiety, acute stress) (Sottile, Lynch, Mealer, & Moss, 2017).To our knowledge, this is the first study to evaluate the application of psychosocialbased resilience training for schizophrenia caregivers in a rural community.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effectiveness of Psychosocial-Based Resilience Intervention on Reducing Negative Emotional States among Schizophrenia Caregivers

Tahamata

Kaloeti

2020

JEHCP

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Schizophrenia caregivers are chronically exposed to a high level of negative emotional states such as depression, anxiety, and stress. Many studies have explored the problem among caregivers, but there remains to be limited evidence in the use of psychotherapeutic intervention to reduce schizophrenia caregivers' psychological adversities. This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of psychosocialbased resilience intervention in reducing the negative emotional states of schizophrenia caregivers. The one group pre-post quasi-experimental design was conducted to five participants. Following the six sessions of training and two-weeks of follow-up, participants showed a significant reduction of negative emotional states (p= .007), measured using the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale (DASS-21). Furthermore, dimensions of negative emotional states were also significantly reduced i.e., depression (p= .008), anxiety (p= .015), and stress (p= .016). These results provide evidence that psychosocial-based resilience program can effectively reduce the negative emotional states of schizophrenia caregivers.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effectiveness of Psychosocial-Based Resilience Intervention on Reducing Negative Emotional States among Schizophrenia Caregivers

Tahamata

Kaloeti

2020

JEHCP

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“…Following up on prior work with officers in the metro Portland (OR) area (Christopher et al, 2016(Christopher et al, , 2018, we sought to establish feasibility, acceptability, and protocol adherence for a modified 8-week mindfulness training program and research procedures in a new police department and metropolitan region. We were successful in recruiting and retaining our entire sample of 30 participants through the 8-week course and Time 2 assessment and lost only 1 participant at follow-up online testing 5 months later.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…First, we sought to demonstrate feasibility, acceptability, and adherence of a modified mindfulness training curriculum in a new police department and geographical region, critical preliminary work for future well-powered randomized trials. Second, we attempted to replicate previously reported improvements in perceived stress, sleep quality, depression, anxiety, and burnout following 8 weeks of mindfulness training (Christopher et al, 2016(Christopher et al, , 2018). Third, we tested the novel question of whether mindfulness training would lead to reduced symptoms of PTSD in these officers.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Working with officers in the metro Portland (OR) region, researchers from Pacific University developed Mindfulness-Based Resilience Training (MBRT), the first MBI tailored specifically for LEOs and other first responders. In a pilot feasibility study (Christopher et al, 2016) and follow-up randomized controlled trial (Christopher et al, 2018), researchers identified reductions in perceived stress, depression, anxiety, disrupted sleep, burnout, and self-reported anger, along with alterations to the cortisol awakening response. These early studies provide a starting point for future studies that seek to generalize results to new departments, geographical regions, and instructors, while investigating additional outcomes that may be affected by these interventions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Mindfulness training reduces PTSD symptoms and other stress-related health outcomes in police officers

Grupe¹,

McGehee²,

Smith³

et al. 2019

Preprint

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BACKGROUND. Police officers are exposed daily to high levels of organizational and operational stressors that have a negative impact on health and well-being outcomes. This population has elevated rates of cardiovascular disease, sleep disorders, symptoms of depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and suicide. Although there are few empirically supported effective stress reduction interventions in police officers, recent evidence suggests that an 8-week training program in mindfulness meditation, specifically tailored for this group, has promise in reducing perceived stress and improving stress-related physical and mental health outcomes including sleep disturbances, anxiety, depression, and burnout. The primary aims of the current study were to 1) demonstrate the feasibility, acceptability, and adherence of a similar mindfulness training program in a new population of police officers; 2) replicate previously demonstrated improvements in perceived stress and stress-related health outcomes, and 3) provide novel evidence of hypothesized reductions in symptoms of PTSD.METHODS. We enrolled 30 sworn law enforcement personnel from a mid-sized, Midwestern U.S. police department in an 8-week, group-based mindfulness training program. We conducted in-person assessments immediately before and after the training program, consisting of self-report measures of perceived stress, sleep quality, physical and mental health symptoms, and burnout and the assessment of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) and other physical health measures. An abbreviated remote assessment at 5-month follow-up included self-report measures only.RESULTS. All 30 officers completed the 8-week program and both in-person assessments, with high rates of class attendance, substantial out-of-class practice time, and uniformly positive evaluations of the training program and instructors. Replicating previous studies, we identified post-training reductions in perceived organizational and operational stress, global sleep disturbances, anxiety, and burnout, with significant reductions in anxiety and perceived stress observed at 5-month follow-up. We also identified novel evidence for reduced PTSD hyperarousal symptoms that persisted at 5-month follow-up, and reduced re-experiencing PTSD symptoms at 5-month follow-up only. There was no evidence for changes in self-reported physical health symptoms or hs-CRP.CONCLUSIONS. Successful adaptation, delivery, and acceptance of this mindfulness-based intervention demonstrates the generalizability of mindfulness training across law enforcement populations. The replication of improved stress-related outcomes, and novel evidence for reduced PTSD symptoms, indicate important targets to be further investigated in larger, mechanistic, randomized controlled trials of mindfulness training in police officers.

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“…When compared to society at large, police officers have particularly stressful lifestyles, placing them at greater risk of a multitude of stress related diseases in addition to overall mortality and decreased life expectancy. 1,[3][4][5] "Developing a comprehensive list of every stressor potentially confronted by policing officers would be an impossible task". 1 The number of years of service in police officer duties is further associated with cardiovascular disease risk, obesity, diabetes, stress related illness, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, aggression disorders, high blood pressure, sleep disorders, increased use of tobacco, a conundrum of behavioral and mental health issues, physical inactivity, and physical fitness decline.…”

Section: Abridged Review Of Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

Yoga and meditation: integrating mind-body medicine into a workplace wellness program. Police agency organizational and implementary considerations

Garcia¹

2019

IJCAM

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Mindfulness-based resilience training to reduce health risk, stress reactivity, and aggression among law enforcement officers: A feasibility and preliminary efficacy trial

Cited by 123 publications

References 143 publications

Effectiveness of Psychosocial-Based Resilience Intervention on Reducing Negative Emotional States among Schizophrenia Caregivers

Effectiveness of Psychosocial-Based Resilience Intervention on Reducing Negative Emotional States among Schizophrenia Caregivers

Mindfulness training reduces PTSD symptoms and other stress-related health outcomes in police officers

Yoga and meditation: integrating mind-body medicine into a workplace wellness program. Police agency organizational and implementary considerations

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