The prevalence and associated factors of depression in policing: A cross sectional study in Sri Lanka

Wickramasinghe, ND; Agampodi, Suneth Buddhika; Wijesinghe, P. D. L. R.; Dharmaratne, SD

doi:10.1093/eurpub/ckv175.006

Cited by 4 publications

(6 citation statements)

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“…Accordingly, various studies report increased rates of burnout and depression in medical staff (e.g., [9,10]), especially in intensive care medicine [11]. In case of police officers, symptom severity of mental health problems seem to depend on specific context factors: While a comparative study in the Netherlands did not find increased rates of mental health problems in police officers [12], studies conducted in Austria [13] and Sri Lanka [14] report higher rates of depression among police staff. However, the latter two lack a matched control group of other occupations with lower risks for traumatization and compare the prevalence rates to rates of the general population.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Correlates of mental health in occupations at risk for traumatization: a cross-sectional study

et al. 2020

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Background: Hospitals, police stations, and fire departments are highly demanding workplaces. Staff members are regularly exposed to various stressors including traumatic events. Correspondingly, several studies report high rates of mental health issues among these occupations. Nevertheless, despite these challenging circumstances, some staff members manage to sustain their mental health. The current study is the first to investigate three healthpromoting factors simultaneously among three different, highly demanding occupations. Methods: The present cross-sectional survey investigated health-promoting factors (sense of coherence-SOC, trait-resilience, locus of control-LOC) and mental health outcomes (general psychopathological symptom burden, posttraumatic stress, burnout) in medical staff (n = 223), police officers (n = 257), and firefighters (n = 100). Results: Among all occupations, SOC, trait-resilience, and an internal LOC were negatively associated with general psychopathological symptoms, posttraumatic stress, and burnout symptoms. By contrast, all these outcome measures were positively correlated with an external LOC. Multiple regression models including all healthpromoting factors explained 56% of the variance in general psychopathological symptoms and 27% in posttraumatic stress symptoms. Among all occupations, SOC was the strongest predictor of both general psychopathological symptom burden and posttraumatic stress symptoms. Multigroup path analyses revealed minor differences across occupations, mainly driven by a stronger influence of LOC in police officers. Conclusion: Across all occupations, SOC was identified as the most important health-promoting factor. Future longitudinal studies should further examine the causal link between health-promoting factors and mental distress in different workplaces. Such studies will also allow for further development and evaluation of resilience promoting programs.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Correlates of mental health in occupations at risk for traumatization: a cross-sectional study

et al. 2020

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show abstract

“…Accordingly, various studies report increased rates of burnout and depression in medical staff (e.g., [9,10]), especially in intensive care medicine [11]. In case of police officers, symptom severity of mental health problems seem to depend on specific contextual factors: While a comparative study in the Netherlands did not find increased rates of mental health problems in police officers [12], studies conducted in Austria [13] and Sri Lanka [14] report higher rates of depression among police staff. However, the latter two lack a matched control group of other occupations with lower risks for traumatization and compare the prevalence rates to rates of the general population.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Correlates of mental health in occupations at risk for traumatization: A cross-sectional study

Schäfer

Sopp

Staginnus

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Background Hospitals, police stations, and fire departments are highly demanding work places. Staff members are regularly exposed to various stressors including traumatic events. Correspondingly, several studies report high rates of mental health issues among these occupations. Nevertheless, despite these challenging circumstances, some staff members manage to sustain their mental health. The current study is the first to investigate correlates of mental health among three different highly demanding occupations. Methods The present cross-sectional survey investigated health-benefitting factors (sense of coherence – SOC, trait resilience, locus of control – LOC) and psychopathological symptoms (general mental health problems, posttraumatic stress, burnout) in medical staff ( n = 223), police officers ( n = 257), and firefighters ( n = 100). Results Among all occupations, SOC, trait resilience, and an internal LOC were negatively associated with general mental health problems, posttraumatic stress, and burnout symptoms. By contrast, all these outcome measures were positively correlated with an external LOC. Multiple regression models including all health-benefitting factors as predictors explained 56% of the variance in general mental health problems and 27% in posttraumatic stress symptoms. Among all occupations, SOC was the strongest predictor of both general mental health problems and posttraumatic stress symptoms. Multigroup path analyses revealed minor differences across occupations, mainly driven by a stronger influence of LOC in police officers. Conclusion Across all occupations, SOC was identified as the most important health-benefitting factor. Future longitudinal studies should further examine the causal link between health-benefitting factors and mental distress in different work places. Such studies will also allow for further development and evaluation of resilience promoting programs.

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“…The estimated prevalence of depression in the current sample is higher (12%) than that of English adults aged 18 or above (9.9%) who participated in the Mental Health of Children and Young People in England survey in (Public Health England, 2018 and GP-registered patients aged 18 (9.1%) in 2016-2017 using the data from Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) (Health and Social Care Information Centre, 2017). Regarding research in policing, the 12% prevalence of depression in police officers and staff in England indicated by this study may be higher than in the police forces of the United States (9%) (Fox et al, 2012) and Sri Lanka (10%) (Wickramasinghe et al, 2016). In contrast, the estimated prevalence of depression in the current sample was relatively lower than the prevalence of job-related depression reported in the Australian police force (ranging 37.2% to 65.5%) (Lawson, Rodwell, & Noblet, 2012) and British Civil Servants (19.9%) (Azevedo et al, 2012).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 56%

“…The increasing depression rates among police officers have been extensively reported in numerous studies within an occupational stress framework (Lawson et al, 2012;Wang et al, 2010;Wickramasinghe et al, 2016). A survey by English and Welsh policing reported around 80% of police officers feeling stressed or anxious (Houdmont et al, 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

A U-shaped association between depression and vigorous physical activity: A cross-sectional study in a cohort of police officers and staff in England

Maqsood

Buckingham

Morrissey

2021

JCSWB

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Policing has become an increasingly sedentary occupation. At the same time, rates of depression are increasing across the police force. Vigorous physical activity (VPA) has been associated with decreasing rates of depression, yet studies of VPA in policing are limited. This study aimed to explore the prevalence of depression and examine its association with VPA in police officers and staff in England, further stratified by gender. A cross-sectional, secondary data analysis of the Airwave dataset was undertaken. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and multivariate logistic regression. Of 28,465 police officers and staff in England, 12% reported having doctor-diagnosed depression and 25% were physically inactive. Relative to being physically inactive, undertaking VPA for either four or seven days was significantly associated with having the lowest odds of reporting depression (OR 0.59, 95% CI: 0.51–0.70, p < 0.001) (OR 0.59, 95% CI: 0.45–0.77, p < 0.001), respectively, suggesting a U-shaped/non-linear relationship. This relationship was also observed in the gender-stratification analysis. While the odds of reporting depression were significantly lower for men than women, VPA was significantly associated with reducing the odds of reporting depression slightly more in women (OR 0.43, 95% CI: 0.27–0.67, p < 0.001) than in men (OR 0.50, 95% CI: 0.33–0.75, p < 0.01), indicating women may be more likely to benefit from VPA than men. Vigorous physical activity may provide a protective effect against depression. To prevent the onset of depression in the target population, policy-makers should consider designing physical activity guidelines for police officers to promote VPA in the target population.

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The prevalence and associated factors of depression in policing: A cross sectional study in Sri Lanka

Cited by 4 publications

References 0 publications

Correlates of mental health in occupations at risk for traumatization: a cross-sectional study

Correlates of mental health in occupations at risk for traumatization: a cross-sectional study

Correlates of mental health in occupations at risk for traumatization: A cross-sectional study

A U-shaped association between depression and vigorous physical activity: A cross-sectional study in a cohort of police officers and staff in England

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