Stressors for Law Enforcement Officers

As an ex-law enforcement officer and now a psychologist, I am interested in how law enforcement officers handle the stress of their work experiences and how that work impacts them. This study examined law enforcement officers' perceptions of self, occupational role, and work events, as well as their relation to perceived stress and symptoms of posttraumatic stress. Self-report measures were completed anonymously by law enforcement officers. The study determined that neuroticism, job quality and general job satisfaction were the main predictors of stress. Levels of stress mediated between 1) job quality and the symptoms of anxious arousal and impaired self-reference; 2) general job satisfaction and the symptoms of defensive avoidance and dissociation; and 3) neuroticism and the symptom of defensive avoidance. This implies that police officers' job quality, their feelings of general job satisfaction, and low levels of neuroticism are important in alleviating stress and subsequent psychological sequela. The study's findings and implications may have important ramifications for those supervising or working with law enforcement personnel.