Law enforcement is a stressful occupation with both work-related and social-related stressors. Too much stress can negatively affect behaviours, mental states, and job performance. Centralized police organizations limit officers’ individual autonomy, likely increasing stress. This study examined differences in occupational stress in two different European countries and one Middle East country. Participants were 351 male police officers from Serbia (n = 130, age 36 ± 8 years), Russia (n = 121, age 22 ± 4 years), and Lebanon (n = 100, age 36 ± 6 years) who completed the 20-item Operational Police Stress Questionnaire in their own language. Items were averaged and interpreted as low (≤2.0), stress (2.1–3.4), and high stress (≥3.5). Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) analyses using age as the covariate with Bonferroni post hoc analyses were used. A principal component analysis (PCA) was used to determine stress structure per country. Significant differences were found with lower occupational stress in Russian (P < 0.001) and Lebanon (P = 0.003) than Serbian officers. PCA factor patterns differed by country, with six found for Russian and Lebanese and three for Serbian officers. More work-related stressors were rated higher for the younger Russian officers, while more social-related stressors were rated higher for the older Serbian officers. Results suggest that it is vital to consider officers’ stress sources and overall stress levels.

PurposeThe purpose of the study is to determine the prevalence of stress and to identify the occupational stressors among Lebanese police officers.Design/methodology/approachOperational Police Stress Questionnaire (PSQ-op) was addressed to 100 randomly selected male Lebanese Police officers. Twenty items from the PSQ-op were run through the principal component analysis to determine the most significant factors of stress and loading within each of the factors.FindingsThe results indicated that 59% of officers reported moderate stress level and 41% reported strenuous stress. Principal component analysis identified six independent factors or stress among Lebanese police officers explaining in total 72.1% of the total variance: excessive workload (30.6%), social-life time management (12.8%), occupational fitness (9.1%), success-related stress (8.6%), physical and psychological health (5.8%), and working alone at night (5.2%).Research limitations/implicationsThis research approach encountered some limitations so further research must: use a larger sample size, include female gender and identify other sources of stressors mainly organizational or job context stressors.Originality/valueAddressing and understanding stress factors among Lebanese police officers helps improving awareness and developing individualized treatment strategies leading police officers to engage in stress-management training to learn coping strategies and use effective tools for preventing stress before it becomes chronic.

Background: Examining students’ levels of physical activity is important because these students will be the future leaders of their communities. Objectives: The aim of this study was to generate primary information and describe the lifestyle behavior patterns considering physical activity prevalence among gender-related Lebanese college students. Methods: The study involved 600 students (346 Men, 254 Women with mean age 23.5 ± 3.96). The participants’ levels of physical activity was examined by utilizing the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ). The over-all level of physical activity including the four-lifestyle fields: work, transportation, home and gardening, and leisure-time, was presented as metabolic equivalent-min per week (MET-min/week). Results: Findings indicated 22% of students with high physical activity level, 61% and 17 % with moderate and low levels respectively. Based on activity Intensity, 47% (n= 282) of students were engaged in vigorous activity, while 45.2% (n= 271) were engaged in moderate activity, and 68.3% (n=410) were engaged in walking activities. Average time spent sitting for the whole sample was 6.23 daily hours. The level of weekly total physical activity expressed in metabolic equivalent represented 2970.5 MET/min/week in males and 2719.5 MET/min/week in females. Conclusion: In general, Lebanese universities students were equally active, with trivial supremacy for males. Lebanese university students met the (WHO) recommendations for physical activity (>150 min/week of moderate activity or > 75 min/week of vigorous activity or an equivalent combination of both activities). Physical Activity must be developed by the provision of physical activity classes in the university curriculum and extracurricular activities.