Psychological resilience has been defined as the ability of an individual to recover from a traumatic event or to remain psychologically robust when faced with an adverse event. This study investigated a sample of 176 police officers who were surveyed at commencement of their training in 1998/1999 (Time 1), 12 months later (Time 2), and at the end of 2009 (Time 3). A multidimensional model of psychological resilience (including environment, thoughts, feelings, behaviours, and physical activities) was evaluated in terms of the pathogenic outcomes of posttraumatic stress, psychological distress, and physical health at the three time points. A three part model of psychological resilience (environment, physical behaviours, and cognitions) was used to demonstrate that social support, adaptive health practices, adaptive coping, and optimism were effective when police officers were faced with adversity. The model provides initial understandings of the multidimensional nature of psychological resilience which requires further evaluation.

The biases to which the same‐different task is prone can be accounted for by having subjects rate their confidence that two stimuli are the same or different. The rating method of detection theory was therefore used to study the discriminability of two concentrations of a fruit drink. A model in which the decision variable was the difference in sensory strength of the two samples provided a satisfactory fit to the Receiver Operating Characteristics of four of the five subjects. The bias‐free index of discriminability, d′, was estimated for each subject. A combined operating characteristic, derived from jackknifing the data of the individual subjects, revealed an asymmetry characteristic of the differencing model. The results suggest that the same‐different task, which is readily understood by subjects, can provide an unbiased measure of the discriminability of foods or beverages.

The nature of police work exposes officers to the prospect of repetitive experience of critical incidents that can affect their well-being. A progressive move from an almost total focus on tertiary intervention to one that advocates proactive primary intervention and recognition that traumatic events can elicit growth outcomes has highlighted a need to expand both the range of predictor variables assessed and sequelae that they predict. Recognition that repeat exposure may complicate reactions and the fact that officers may enter police work with a prior history of traumatic experience also call for an expansion in the scope of traumatic stress research in police officers. This article examines how preemployment traumatic experience, multiple-duty versus off-duty events, and the organizational context influence traumatic stress symptoms and posttraumatic growth. It examines the role of these factors during the 1st year of police life and commences at officers' point of entry into police work.