Influence of organizational stress on reported depressive symptoms among police
Abstract
Background: There is a growing body of research on operational stress injuries (OSIs) among police officers and first responders. Most studies focus on operational stressors’ contribution to OSI and the development of post-traumatic stress disorder. However, preliminary research shows that organizational stressors may uniquely contribute to OSI and depression, and thus should be examined more closely. Aims: This study explored the influence of organizational stress on symptoms of depression in a sample of police officers from a large urban region. Methods: Front-line (n = 109) police officers completed questionnaires measuring police organizational and operational stress, depression, anxiety, hostility, rumination, perceived social support and social desirability. Using negative binomial regression (NBR), a best subset model of self-reported depression symptoms was derived from the full model (a function of gender, age, police experience (years), organizational stress, operational stress, anxiety, anger, rumination and social support), based on Akaike Information Criterion (AIC) goodness of fit. Results: Organizational stress and anxiety were positively associated with self-reported depression symptoms. A paired t-test revealed no significant difference between reported organizational and operational stress levels. Conclusions: Organizational stress may uniquely contribute to OSI and depressive symptoms and should be examined in future research. Findings support prior literature suggesting that initiatives to treat OSI among police should address workplace environment and organizational stressors. Addressing organizational issues in police culture and developing long-lasting initiatives is key in the future of OSI prevention and treatment for police officers.
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Reduced decision making, low social support at work, and low rewards are risk factors of depression, anxiety, and burnout for police officers.
“For instance, reduced decision making, low social support at work, and low rewards are risk factors of depression, anxiety, and burnout for police officers (Chan & Andersen, 2020; Sherwood et al., 2019).”
From Impact of Mindfulness Training on Spanish Police Officers’ Mental and Emotional Health: a Non-Randomized Pilot Study (2022) · cites this paper as Chan & Andersen, 2020
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- Authors
- Chan, J. F., & Andersen, J. P.
- Affiliations
- University of Toronto (CA)
- Corresponding author
- Andersen, J P
- Venue
- Occupational Medicine
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Published
- 2020-08-17
- Volume
- 70
- Issue
- 7
- Pages
- 496-502
- ISSN
- 0962-7480 (ISSN-L)
- 1471-8405
- OpenAlex
- W3050457853
- Cited by
- 28
- References
- 24
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 7 · 2023: 5 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 2 · 2020: 2
- FWCI
- 1.29
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Licence
- academic.oup.com/journals/pages/open_access/funder_policies/chorus/standard_publication_model (vor)
- Locations
- Occupational Medicine (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Government of Ontario Ministry of Labour (ROP 15-R-021)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Research
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Stress and Burnout Research
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Workplace Health and Well-being
- Keywords
- organizational stress, operational stress, police officers, depressive symptoms, operational stress injuries, anxiety, rumination, social support, hostility, occupational stressors, police culture, first responders
- MeSH terms
- Occupational Stress, Rumination, Cognitive, Adult, Anger, Anxiety, Depression, Female, Humans, Male, Ontario, Surveys and Questionnaires, Social Support, Stress, Psychological, Police
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