Trauma and Coping Strategies in Police Officers: A Quantitative-Qualitative Pilot Study

Abstract

Background. Because of their work, emergency workers, such as police officers (POs), are exposed to traumatic events on a daily basis. These experiences can have consequences in terms of physical and emotional stress. Primary attachment relationships affect the development of coping strategies for dealing with stressful events (primarily hyperactivating strategies in entangled adults and hypo-activating strategies in dismissing adults). In this study, we explored how POs describe the experience of traumatic accidents, the effects they reported and their coping strategies related to their attachment style. Methods. We used a quantitative-qualitative method. Thirty-nine POs were administered the Beck Depression Inventory, the Maslach Burnout Inventory and a semi-structured interview about traumatic events and reactions. Interviews were analyzed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. Results. Traumatic events at work predominantly concerned aggressions, witnessing deaths, forced hospitalizations, and domestic violence involving children. POs with a responsible role were more likely than POs to use security-based strategies. Most POs narrated overactivation and deactivation strategies, which were associated with depressive symptoms, emotional exhaustion, and depersonalization. Conclusions. These results can be useful to improve trauma-informed interventions for POs based on their different attachment styles and coping strategies.

An Exploration of New Zealand Crown Prosecutors' Experiences of Working with Potentially Traumatic Material and Emotions in the Courtroom

“…Similar to experiences reported by police officers (Civilotti et al, 2021;Perez et al, 2010), therapists (Bell, 2003;Pistorius et al, 2008) researchers (Moran & Asquith, 2020) and lawyers (Weir et al, 2020) working with PTM, Crown prosecutors reported experiencing an array of VT symptoms e.g. sleep disturbances, suspicion, paranoia and hypervigilance in the safety of themselves and also loved ones.…”

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing in Child and Adolescent Psychology: a Narrative Review

“…On a clinical level, as indicated by Ahmad et al [44] and by Civilotti et al [121], it is important to consider the capacity to recognize positive and negative cognitions and emotions rooted in the development stage and the sociocultural context of the child or adolescent. Some deviations from the standard EMDR protocol are necessary in recalling traumatic events, for example, when identifying negative cognitions and emotions and especially in the identification of positive cognitions.…”

Occupational Safety of Municipal Police Officers: Assessing the Vulnerability and Riskiness of Police Officers’ Work

“…It is also important to pay attention to the psychological stress they encounter during their work. A number of authors point to the psychological burden posed to police officers during their work [ 53 , 54 ]. Mental workload must not be underestimated, as it may affect the police even after work [ 6 , 55 , 56 ].…”