Perceptions of police as a moderator between negative experiences and mental health symptoms

Abstract

Negative experiences with police present serious risks for mental health. However, interpretation plays a meaningful and little understood role in the effects of those experiences. This study expands on previous work exploring coping responses to negative police experiences and investigates the relation between negative experiences with police and mental health outcomes. Participants (N = 198) were from a diverse sample of young adults at a minority‐serving institution. Black/African American, Hispanic/Latinx, and Middle Eastern/North African participants reported significantly more negative police experiences than White and Asian/Asian American participants. Black/African American and Hispanic/Latinx also showed more negative perceptions of police. Negative police experiences were positively related to depression but not posttraumatic stress symptoms. There were also meaningful interactive effects between negative experiences and perceptions of police on levels of posttraumatic stress and depression, suggesting negative perceptions of police may buffer negative effects of negative police experiences. Our findings point to the importance of addressing negative encounters with police as mental health stressors, as well as effects of crucial differences in perceptions of police by race. This research contributes to a growing understanding of the complex nature and effects of experiences with police on mental health.