Occupational stress, coping and mental health in Jamaican police officers

Nelson, Kenisha and Smith, Andrew Paul ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8805-8028 2016. Occupational stress, coping and mental health in Jamaican police officers. Occupational Medicine 66 (6) , pp. 488-491. 10.1093/occmed/kqw055

Preview

PDF - Published Version Available under License Creative Commons Attribution. Download (67kB) | Preview

Abstract

Background: Police are exposed to a wide range of stressors and this is especially true in developing countries such as Jamaica. Exposure to psychosocial stressors and use of maladaptive coping styles can result in mental ill-health. Aims: To examine the relationship between work characteristics, coping and mental health in Jamaican police officers and to test whether work characteristics are indirectly associated with mental health outcomes through perceived job stress and job satisfaction. Methods: Police officers from the Jamaican police force completed a questionnaire using a cross-sectional design. We analysed the data using hierarchical regression. Results: The study group consisted of 134 police officers; the response rate was 94%. Negative work characteristics, lower levels of positive work factors and work support and emotion-focused coping styles were associated with increased levels of depression (F(8, 125) = 7.465, P < 0.001). Subjective feelings of anxiety were positively associated with negative work characteristics and emotion-focused coping (F(8, 125) = 7.586, P < 0.001). The relationship between work characteristics and mental health outcomes was mediated by perceived stress. Job satisfaction mediated the relationship between positive work characteristics and depression. Conclusions: Stress management and intervention programmes should address modifiable work conditions, monitor stress levels and reduce maladaptive coping.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Psychology
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General) R Medicine > RA Public aspects of medicine > RA0421 Public health. Hygiene. Preventive Medicine
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Coping, mental health, occupational stress, police officers.
Additional Information:	This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
ISSN:	0962-7480
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	3 May 2016
Last Modified:	05 May 2023 06:37
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/90284

Citation Data

Cited 28 times in Scopus. View in Scopus. Powered By Scopus® Data

Actions (repository staff only)

Edit Item