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Operational stress and burnout as predictors of aggressivity as misconduct behavior in police officers

Wed, Nov 12, 9:30 to 10:50am, Marquis Salon 14 - M2

Abstract

This study examines the extent to which high levels of stress and burnout contribute to increased external aggression among police officers, potentially compromising the quality of service provided to society. A nationwide sample of 2,485 Portuguese police officers was assessed using the AQ-Aggression Questionnaire (Buss & Perry, 1992), the Operational and Organizational Police Stress Questionnaires (McCreary & Thompson, 2013), and the BAT-Burnout Assessment Tool (Schaufeli et al., 2020). Additionally, sociodemographic and professional attributes were analyzed to explore their potential influence on these relationships.
The results indicate high levels of operational and organizational stress respectively, averages of 4.23 and 4.45, in 1-5 points scale), alongside lower levels of burnout and aggressivity (averages of 2.50 and 2.15). However, cut-off points revealed that 71.5% of the sample experienced high operational stress, 63.5% reported high organizational stress, 25.5% exhibited high burnout, and 16.2% displayed aggressivity (17.7% verbal, 11.8% physical). Positive correlations were found among psychological variables, with a particularly strong association between burnout and aggressivity (r=.623). Regression analysis demonstrated that aggressivity is significantly predicted by operational stress, organizational stress, and burnout. These findings highlight the importance of developing and implementing targeted intervention programs for police officers to manage stress and reduce burnout effectively.

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