The Impact of potentially traumatic events identified during the Career of Police Officers on the Development of a mental disorder (P132)

• In Event: Poster session

Abstract

Police officers experience Potentially Traumatic Events (PTE) with some recurrence and intensity (Colwell et al., 2011). Hence, they are at greater risk of developing trauma (Violanti et al., 2016). Additionally, exposure to PTE is positively associated to developing mental disorders (e.g. acute stress, post-traumatic stress, anxiety, depression; Stevelink et al., 2020). This paper aims to investigate impact of PTE identified during the police officers’ career on development of a mental disorder. Sample includes 152 Belgian police officers (MeanAge = 41.46; SDAge = 8.9) from 15 police aeras and Federal Judicial Police. PTEs reported by the participants were investigated through an anamnesis and categorized in three types: violent, non-violent, and in-workplace events. Mental disorders were assessed as follows: acute stress disorders (ASD; SASRQ; Cardena et al., 1996), posttraumatic stress disorders (PTSD) and depression (TraumaQ; Damiani & Pereira-Fradin, 2006), and anxiety (STAI-Y; Spielberger et al., 1993). Associations between variables were investigated through Spearman’s correlations and, subsequently, multiple linear regression using backward methods. Sexual assault on minors is the main predictor of the development of ASD (R² = .06 p = .002), PTSD (R² = .05; p = .004), and depression (R² = .02; p = .029). Workplace suicides positively influence anxiety-state (R² = .07; p = .000), and the degree of perceived PTE positively influences the development of ASD (R² = .15; p = .017) and PTSD (R² = .32; p = .002). Results are globally in line with literature. Indeed, interpersonal PTEs are related to development of ASD, PTSD, and depression (Colwell et al., 2011; Santa Maria et al., 2017). However, results highlight it is primarily PTEs involving child victims that are related to development of a mental disorder. Furthermore, facing a child victim leads to significant emotional, cognitive, social, and behavioral consequences (Powell et al., 2015).

Authors

• Loïce Gandibleux, University of Mons

• Emilie Telle, University of Mons

• Thierry Pham, University of Mons

• Audrey Vicenzutto, University of Mons