The impact of killing and injuring others on mental health symptoms among police officers
Open accessAbstract
This study examined the relationship between killing or seriously injuring someone in the line of duty and mental health symptoms in a sample of police officers (N = 400) who were first assessed during academy training and at five additional time points over three years. We found that nearly 10% of police officers reported having to kill or seriously injure someone in the line of duty in the first three years of police service. After controlling for demographics and exposure to life threat, killing or seriously injuring someone in the line of duty was significantly associated with PTSD symptoms (p < .01) and marginally associated with depression symptoms (p = .06). These results highlight the potential mental health impact of killing or seriously injuring someone in the line of duty. Greater attention to mental health services following these types of exposures can serve as a preventative measure for police officers who have been negatively impacted.
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Persons working in public safety tend to experience PPTEs at much higher frequencies than the general public.
“That is, persons working in public safety tend to experience PPTEs at much higher frequencies than the general public [3,4,5].”
From Assessing the Relative Impact of Diverse Stressors among Public Safety Personnel (2020) · cites this paper as [3]
The Discussion reports high traumatic exposure among police officers: over two-thirds reported at least one event involving perceived direct life threat. But the paper does not compare their exposure frequency with that of the general public, and its study population is police officers rather than public-safety workers generally. (LLM, conf=0.84)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredCanadian public safety personnel are regularly exposed to potentially traumatic events as a function of their work.
“Regular exposure to potentially traumatic events such as exposure to threatened or actual physical assaults, fires, or explosions2 is expected for PSP employment.3,4”
From Mental Disorder Symptoms among Public Safety Personnel in Canada (2018) · cites this paper as [4]
The Discussion reports a high potential for traumatic exposure in police work and says over two-thirds of the officers studied experienced at least one event involving direct life threat. That supports the point for police officers, but the paper does not establish regular exposure across all Canadian public safety personnel or address fires and explosions specifically. (LLM, conf=0.84)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThe observed results may be explained by PSP being more frequently exposed to potentially traumatic events in their work.
“The observed results may be explained by PSP being more frequently exposed to potentially traumatic events in their work1,3,4”
From Mental Disorder Symptoms among Public Safety Personnel in Canada (2018) · cites this paper as [4]
The Discussion describes police work as having a high potential for traumatic exposure and reports that over two-thirds of officers experienced an event involving direct life threat during their first three years. This supports the point for police officers, but the paper does not establish that PSP as a whole are exposed more frequently than a comparison group. (LLM, conf=0.82)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredPSP frequently experience or witness potentially traumatic events such as motor vehicle collisions and acts of violence.
“Through their work, PSP frequently experience or witness potentially traumatic events such as motor vehicle collisions and acts of violence [2-4].”
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References 22 · Cited by 161
Research works printed but not linked: 1
- Beck A Steer R Brown G Beck depression inventory—second edition manual 1996 The Psychological Corporation San Antonio, TX
- Authors
- Komarovskaya, I., Maguen, S., McCaslin, S. E., Metzler, T. J., Madan, A., Brown, A. D., Galatzer-Levy, I. R., Henn-Haase, C., & Marmar, C. R.
- Affiliations
- NYU Langone Health (US)
- San Francisco VA Medical Center (US)
- Northern California Institute for Research and Education (US)
- Corresponding author
- Komarovskaya, Irina
- Venue
- Journal of Psychiatric Research
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2011-10
- Volume
- 45
- Issue
- 10
- Pages
- 1332-1336
- ISSN
- 0022-3956 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC3974970
- OpenAlex
- W2165320866
- Cited by
- 161
- References
- 22
- Citations by year
- 2026: 9 · 2025: 24 · 2024: 15 · 2023: 15 · 2022: 15 · 2021: 15 · 2020: 17 · 2019: 10 · 2018: 18 · 2017: 8 · 2016: 2 · 2015: 6 · 2014: 2 · 2013: 4 · 2012: 1
- FWCI
- 2.41
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Journal of Psychiatric Research (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute of Mental Health (5R01-MH056350-10)
- VA Health Service Research & Development Career Development Award (RCD 06-042)
- VA Clinical Science Research & Development Career Development Award (CDA-2-032-06F)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Research
- Social Sciences › Political Science and International Relations › Policing Practices and Perceptions
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › Occupational Therapy › Occupational Health and Performance
- Keywords
- police officers, serious injury, posttraumatic stress symptoms, depressive symptoms, mental health, occupational injuries, police academy training, longitudinal follow-up
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Alcohol Drinking, Depression, Female, Homicide, Humans, Male, Mental Health, Middle Aged, Risk Factors, Sampling Studies, Social Adjustment, Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic, Stress, Psychological, Wounds and Injuries, Police
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