New Hope for Correctional Officers: An Innovative Program for Reducing Stress and Health Risks

Abstract

This study investigated the impact of a new stress management program on physiological and psychological stress and health risk factors among 75 correctional officers. The experimental group received training in emotion self-regulation techniques intended to reduce stress and health risk factors. Practice of the techniques was enhanced by heart rate variability feedback, which helped participants learn and sustain use of the self-management tools. Measures of physiological stress included cortisol, DHEA, cholesterol, triglycerides, fasting glucose levels, 10-min resting electrocardiogram, heart rate variability, and blood pressure. Three psychological questionnaires assessed emotional stress and work-related variables. There were significant improvements in the experimental group in cholesterol, glucose, heart rate, blood pressure and positive outlook and significant reductions in overall psychological distress. There were significant increases in productivity, motivation, goal clarity, and perceived support. The mean difference between pre-and post-intervention projected health care costs was calculated to be $1,179 per employee per year.

Effects of Mental Strength Training for Police Officers: a Three-Wave Quasi-experimental Study

“…A recent study by Hystad et al (2015) stressed group level stability of hardiness, a concept akin to psychological resilience, after 3 years of military training and thereby disputing the changeability of psychological resilience within the military population. In contrast, the study by McCraty et al (2009) did find positive training effects, but focused more on other aspects such as coping, motivation, and/or positive outlook. Also, when comparing MST-like concepts in a broader field of occupations, such as teachers, managers, military, and the police, it shows that resilience enhancement can be achieved, but effects are small, and in half the cases too small to reach statistical significance according to Robertson et al (2015).…”

“…To date, several intervention programs had been developed such as mental imaging training (Arnetz et al 2009), resilience training (Devilly and Varker 2013), and Heartmath® stress techniques (McCraty et al 2009). …”

“…Within these different compositions of training components, a plurality of outcomes had been associated with these differing training types. Among others, these training types have been found to enhance general health (Arnetz et al 2013;Backman et al 1997), mental health (Williams et al 2010), and/or reduce stress levels (Arnetz et al 2009;McCraty et al 1999McCraty et al , 2009Ranta and Sud 2008;Zach et al 2007).…”

“…We did not conduct personal (clinical) interviews or use biological measures as for instance McCraty et al (2009) did. We have no other sources of information, such as the perceptions of colleagues, superiors, or occupational physicians on the mental strength and/or mental health of the respondents in our study.…”

Worksite Weight Loss Intervention for Employees in Stressful Workplaces: A Pilot Study and Baseline Survey Indicators of Success

“…Correctional officers must cope with a variety of stressors within and outside of their institutional roles [1]. Correctional institutions are high-stress workplaces due to hierarchal organization, rotating work shifts, irregular meal schedules, and risks to personal safety during violent emergencies [2][3][4].…”