Impact of Mindfulness Training on Spanish Police Officers’ Mental and Emotional Health: a Non-Randomized Pilot Study

Abstract

Objectives The purpose of this exploratory non-randomized controlled study was to determine the acceptance and effectiveness of an 8-week mindfulness-based intervention (MBI) co-designed by a police officer. Methods A pretest-posttest control group design was followed. Participants (MBI group = 20; control group = 18) answered baseline and post-training self-reported measures. In addition, the weekly emotional state of the MBI group was collected. Paired-samples t-test and analysis of covariance were performed for pre-post within-group and between-group differences, respectively, as well as linear mixed effects analysis of repeated measures for week-by-week data. Results High acceptance and attendance rates, as well as significant pre-post within-group differences in the MBI group in mindfulness (η2 = 0.43), self-compassion (η2 = 0.43), depression (η2 = 0.54), anxiety (η2 = 0.46), stress (η2 = 0.51), difficulties in emotion regulation, sleep quality (η2 = 0.57), and burnout (η2 = 0.31–0.47), were identified. Moreover, police officers who underwent the MBI experienced a week by week decrease of anger, disgust, anxiety, sadness, and desire. Finally, after adjusting for pre-test scores, significant between-group differences were found in the way of attending to internal and external experiences (observing mindfulness facet; ηp2 = 0.21), depression symptoms (ηp2 = 0.23), general distress (ηp2 = 0.24), and the degree of physical and psychological exhaustion (personal burnout; ηp2 = 0.20). Conclusions The preliminary effectiveness of this MBI on psychopathology and quality of life outcomes in Spanish police officers was discussed. Previous evidence regarding the promising use of MBIs in this population was supported.

The Effectiveness of Mindfulness-Based Interventions for Police Officers’ Stress Reduction: a Systematic Review

“…Half of the studies had both an intervention and a control group, and another half had a one-group experimental design (only an intervention group). Of the two group experimental designs, three were randomised control trials (Christopher et al 2018 ; Grupe et al 2021a , b ; Krick and Felfe 2020 ), and one had a quasi-experimental design (non-randomised control trial) (Navarrete et al 2022 ). It is also worth mentioning that three of the analysed studies specified their research as pilot studies (Christopher et al 2016 ; Grupe et al 2021a ; Navarette et al 2022 ).…”

“…All studies included both genders and were done in Western countries. Three studies specified police officers working positions in detail (Christopher et al 2018 ; Grupe et al 2021a ; Hoeve et al 2021 ), two more abstractedly (Grupe et al 2021a , b ; Navarette et al 2022 ) and the other three just named the sample police officers and mentioned if some officers of command positions were included or not. The described working positions included patrol officers, detectives, criminalists, SWAT riot officers, forensic researchers, alarm room operators, human resource officers, sergeants, etc.…”

“…Five studies mentioned participants’ inclusion and exclusion criteria, and three did not have any or at least have not provided any information about it (Christopher et al 2016 , 2018 ; Krick and Felfe 2020 ). The inclusion criteria in four of the studies were that those police officers were able regularly to attend the class/mindfulness sessions (Grupe et al 2021a ; Hoeve et al 2021 ; Marquez et al 2021 ; Navarette et al 2022 ), and in one that participants are also willing to do homework assignments (Marquez et al 2021 ). The exclusion criteria in two of the analysed studies were previous participation in MBSR or other mindfulness interventions or significant previous meditation experiences (Grupe et al 2021a , b ).…”

“…The exclusion criteria in two of the analysed studies were previous participation in MBSR or other mindfulness interventions or significant previous meditation experiences (Grupe et al 2021a , b ). This was not an exclusion criterion in one study, but this variable was controlled and included in the analysis (Navarette et al 2022 ). One study excluded potential participants if they had acute psychosis, had suicidal ideations, had current substance abuse problems or had a borderline personality disorder (Hoeve et al 2021 ).…”

“…One study excluded potential participants if they had acute psychosis, had suicidal ideations, had current substance abuse problems or had a borderline personality disorder (Hoeve et al 2021 ). Moreover, it is worth mentioning that one of the studies was implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic when there were a lot of safety measures in the workplace (Navarette et al 2022 ). Hence, all police officers wore masks during mindfulness practices.…”