A systematic review of mental health symptoms in police officers following extreme traumatic exposures

ABSTRACT

In addition to high-risk and high-stress events that police officers routinely encounter, many are also exposed to extreme traumatic exposures or disasters caused by nature (eg. Hurricanes) and human action (e.g., terrorist attacks or plane crashes). These exposures can result in a variety of adverse reactions including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), acute stress disorder, major depressive disorder and anxiety disorders. Understanding and accurately measuring the burden of disease arising from involvement in extreme events, on policing organizations and individual police officers is critical for policy makers and those who plan and deliver services. This systematic review synthesizes existing research on large-scale disasters, in order to further our understanding of how extreme events impact the mental health of police officers. The results found variability in the reported rates of mental disorder; however, there are some clear trends. Overall, the rates of PTSD among police officers that are consistently lower than those of civilians affected by the same disaster, and are lower than other occupations. This undoubtedly speaks to the resilience and training of members of policing organizations that prepare them for this work. Studies also demonstrate that reported distress in terms of acute stress disorder, anxiety and depression, continues to rise in some groups as time-elapsed from the event lengthens; suggesting a need to ensure that mental health supports are provided at later stages after the event.

KEYWORDS:

• Police
• PTSD
• disaster
• acute stress disorder
• depression

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the WorkSafe BC [NA];Worksafe BC [NA].

Notes on contributors

Cheryl Regehr

Cheryl Regehr is Vice-President and Provost of the University of Toronto. Former Dean of the Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work, she is a Professor in the Faculty of Social Work, and has cross-appointments to the Faculty of Law and the Institute for Medical Sciences at the University of Toronto. Dr. Regehr’s practice background in emergency mental health has included service as the director of the Crisis Response Team at Pearson International Airport.

Mary G. Carey

Mary G. Carey is an Associate Professor at the University of Rochester NY School of Nursing. Dr. Carey’s research program seeks to improve electrocardiographic (ECG) monitoring so that disease conditions are better detected. This includes depolarization and repolarization abnormalities, myocardial ischemia, and cardiac arrhythmias in in resting and ambulatory ECG.

Shannon Wagner

Shannon Wagner is a Professor and Dean of the School of Health Sciences at the University of Northern British Columbia. Dr. Wagner has dedicated much of her career to the study of workplace traumatic stress, especially as it pertains to emergency responders. In addition to her research career, Dr. Wagner is also a registered psychologist with expertise in occupational neuropsychological assessment.

Lynn E. Alden

Lynn E. Alden is a Professor of Psychology at the University of British Columbia and a registered psychologist with the College of Psychologists of BC. Dr. Alden’s research examines PTSD in hospital emergency department medical personnel and first responders, as well as basic laboratory studies that examine cognitive processes involved in maintaining PTSD. In clinical practice she specializes in assessment and treatment of individuals with PTSD.

Nicholas Buys

Nicholas Buys is the Dean, Learning & Teaching in the Health Faculty at Griffith University, Brisbane Australia. Dr Buys conducts research into community-based rehabilitation for people with disabilities, and social and vocational rehabilitation for people injured in motor vehicle accidents. His professional career is in rehabilitation counselling, whereby he has worked for the federal government in practice and policy roles, and in workers’ compensation rehabilitation.

Wayne Corneil

Wayne Corneil is an Associate Scientist at the Institute of Population Health and a Teaching and Research Fellow in Community Medicine and Epidemiology at the University of Ottawa. His research involves executive health, leadership during crises, psychosocial aspects of disasters and terrorism and on emergency management for high-risk populations including those with disabilities. His more recent research has been focused on resilience in response organizations.

Trina Fyfe

Trina Fyfe is the Health Sciences Librarian at the University of Northern British Columbia. Dr. Fyfe’s research interests include health education and systematic review methodology.

Lynda Matthews

Lynda Matthews is a qualified rehabilitation counsellor and an Associate Professor in the Ageing Work and Health Research Unit at the University of Sydney. She specializes in mental health, rehabilitation, and work, and has specific expertise in the rehabilitation of people with posttraumatic mental health conditions. Dr. Matthews has been active in promoting rehabilitation as a means to improve function, reduce disability, and promote recovery in people with PTSD.

Christine Randall

Christine Randall is a Senior Lecturer and the Head of Disciplines for Rehabilitation Counselling in the School of Allied Health Sciences at Griffiths University. Dr. Randall convenes rehabilitation counselling and industry programs for the personal injury industry. She is a founding director of the Rehabilitation Counselling Association of Australiasia (RCAA) and has contributed to research about the skills and knowledge in rehabilitation counselling.

Marc White

Marc White is co-founder and CEO/President of the Canadian Institute for the Relief of Pain and Disability. He is a Clinical Assistant Professor with the Department of Family Practice at the University of British Columbia. His research areas include research translation (reducing the gap between what is known from high-quality research to what is done in training, policy, and practice), continuing medical education, disability prevention, consumer health education and primary care renewal.

Alex Fraess-Phillips

Alex Fraess-Phillips is a PhD student at University of Northern British Columbia.

Elyssa Krutop

Elyssa Krutop is a counsellor at the Centre for Response-Based Practice in Duncan, British Columbia.

Nicole White

Nicole White is a research associate at University of Northern British Columbia.

Matthew Fleischmann

Matthew Fleischmann is a research assistant at McGill University.