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Gender and police stress
The convergent and divergent impact of
work environment, work-family conflict,
and stress coping mechanisms of female
and male police officers
Gender and
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Ni He
Department of Criminal Justice, University of Texas at San Antonio,
San Antonio, Texas, USA
Jihong Zhao
Department of Criminal Justice, University of Nebraska at Omaha,
Omaha, Nebraska, USA, and
Carol A. Archbold
Department of Social and Cultural Sciences, Marquette University,
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA
Keywords Gender, Stress, Coping, Police
Abstract This study explores the impact of work environment, work-family conflict, and coping
mechanisms on physical and psychological stresses of police officers. Using survey data from a
large police department located in the New England area, we pay specific attention to analyzing
similar and dissimilar results while comparing across gender groups. Our research indicates that
for both gender groups, work-family conflict (spillover) and destructive coping mechanisms are
among the strongest and most consistent stressors, regardless of the measures of dependent
variable employed (i.e. somatization, anxiety and depression). On the other hand, we also find
divergent impact of exposures to negative work environment, camaraderie, and constructive
coping mechanisms on different measures of work related stresses across the two gender groups.
Implications of these convergent and divergent effects are discussed.
Introduction
Police work is often considered to be a highly stressful occupation. Not only are
police officers frequently exposed to the most violent, antisocial, and
mistrustful elements of society, they are also expected to exercise discretion
under critical circumstances (Crank and Caldero, 1991; Violanti and Aron,
1994). Researchers have long argued that police officers' job performance can
be affected deleteriously when officers experience chronic stress (McGreedy,
1974; Goodman, 1990). However, most of the early research fails to examine the
differences of the impact of stress among both male and female police officers.
Early police stress studies focus primarily on male police officers.
Observations and subsequent policy implications derived from police stress
research based solely on male police officers may not be applicable to female
police officers. Research on stress and gender in occupations outside of the
scope of policing indicates that there are significant differences in the
perceptions and coping skills of male and female workers (Barnett et al., 1987).
Policing: An International Journal of
Police Strategies & Management,
Vol. 25 No. 4, 2002, pp. 687-708.
# MCB UP Limited, 1363-951X
DOI 10.1108/13639510210450631
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Though limited, there is also research that suggests that female police officers
experience stress derived from sources that are different from male police
officers, and that female officers cope with stress differently than male officers
(Pendergrass and Ostrove, 1984; Brown and Campbell, 1990). There have been
few studies that examine stress coping mechanisms of both male and female
officers through direct comparison.
The concern of the impact of stress and female police officers should be
given more attention now that female police officers have become a steadily
growing demographic in many police agencies. The representation of female
police officers in US police agencies grew from 4.6 percent in 1980 to 14.3
percent in 1999 (National Center for Women and Policing, 2000; Martin, 1993).
The increase in the presence of female police officers, coupled with research
findings that suggest that stress can have a negative impact on job
performance provides justification for additional research on gender and police
stress.
In spite of the plethora of literature on the general relationship between
police work and job-related stress, there is a paucity of empirical evidence
pertaining to the study of gender differences in coping with police stress. Most
of the earlier studies on police stress did not have sample sizes large enough to
allow for meaningful comparisons between male and female police officers
(Burke, 1993). The current study uses survey data from a large metropolitan
police department located in the New England area to explore the impact of
work environment, work-family conflict, and coping mechanisms on physical
and psychological stresses of both male and female police officers. Among
those who responded to the survey, there were 943 male officers and 157 female
officers. This relatively large sample size allows us to perform an in-depth
analysis of gender-specific police stress using clinical measurements.
The purpose of the current study is to investigate whether levels of clinically
developed measures of psychological and physical stress are similar between
male and female police officers, and the impact of work environment, workfamily conflict, and stress coping mechanisms on the stress of both male and
female police officers. In our analysis, we use three indexes to measure the
levels of physical and psychological stress in the workplace considering both
male and female officers. Four categories of explanatory variables including
work environment, work-family conflict, coping mechanisms, and
demographic variables are also employed to predict levels of stress among
male and female police officers.
Literature review
Researchers who study stress across a wide variety of professions often utilize
gender as a key factor in their studies. Stress studies using clinically developed
survey instruments consistently show that females report significantly higher
levels of psychological and physical stress than their male counterparts (for a
review of the literature, see Derogatis and Savitz, 1999). Moreover, these
studies have revealed that male and female employees possess different
conceptualizations and adaptations to stress. First, male and female workers
often have different views on what is stressful ± the source of stress (Stotland,
1991). Second, male and female workers usually adopt different coping
strategies when they are under stress (Barnett et al., 1987, p. 350). It is argued
that females are more likely to use ``emotional-focused'' coping strategies
compared to males who are more proficient with ``problem-focused'' coping
strategies (Billings and Moos, 1981; Stone and Neale, 1984). It is possible that
the gender differences found in the perceptions and coping mechanisms used to
deal with stress among male and female workers in non-police-related
occupations, might also be found among male and female police officers.
Gender and stress in police work
Research shows that gender is a key explanatory factor in predicting the
sources and coping strategies of stress among police officers (Pendergrass and
Ostrove, 1984; Brown and Campbell, 1990). For example, previous literature
reveals that female police officers are likely to encounter higher levels of
harassment, overt hostility, and other negative social interactions on the job
compared to their male counterparts (Deaux and Ullman, 1983; Balkin, 1988;
Martin, 1990). A common explanation for this maltreatment of female officers is
that police organizational culture, in general, is adversarial toward them.
Moreover, the negative side of police work may bear its mark more on female
police officers than their male counterparts. Wexler and Logan (1983, p. 48)
revealed that:
The sources of stress mentioned were negative attitudes of male officers, training, exposure to
tragedy and trouble, group blame, and rumors.
Therefore, both the internal organizational culture and external work
environment are much less favorable to female officers.
The studies that were previously discussed suggest that stress may have
different effects on male and female police officers. However, there has been
little research focused specifically on psychological and physical stress
between male and female police officers, using the same measurement. Most of
the previous studies on police stress and gender focus on male or female
officers separately due to limitations of the collected data (e.g. Wexler and
Logan, 1983).
Sources associated with occupational stress among police officers
In this section, we highlight five major convergent and divergent sources of
police stress identified in the literature. It is evident that police work is often
cited as one of the most stressful occupations (Eisenburg, 1975; Selye, 1978;
Alkus and Padesky, 1983; Loo, 1984; Kroes, 1985; Violanti, 1985; Reese, 1986;
Dantzer, 1987; Goodman, 1990; Burke, 1993). The sources associated with
stress in police work are well documented by scholars and practitioners
(Symonds, 1970; Cruse and Rubin, 1973; Kroes et al., 1974; Reiser, 1974; 1976).
Major sources of police stress that are frequently highlighted in the literature
include:
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stress from the work environment;
availability of peer support and trust;
social and family influence;
bureaucratic characteristics of police organizations; and
accessibility of coping mechanisms.
The first major source of stress identified in police work is associated with the
unique work environment of police officers. The danger associated with police
work is usually highlighted in surveys of law enforcement officers where police
officers are asked to rank-order a list of possible stressors. Not surprisingly, the
death of a partner or having to take a life in the line of duty are typically among
the top stressors identified by officers (Coman and Evans, 1991; Violanti and
Aron, 1993). Other elements of stress often mentioned in the literature include
making violent arrests, and gruesome crime scenes (Violanti and Aron, 1993).
Overall, violent and unpredictable incidents involved in police work are
commonly considered to be the leading sources of both psychological and
physical stress among law enforcement officers.
Next, a substantial body of literature addresses the important role of peer
support and trust of co-workers and supervisors in buffering the effects of
stress related to police work (House and Wells, 1978; LaRocco et al., 1980;
House, 1981; Dignam et al., 1986; Ganster et al., 1986; Quick et al., 1992; Morris
et al., 1999). Researchers have argued that peer support is especially salient to
police officers because the nature of their work requires them to place their
lives in the hands of fellow police officers in dangerous situations, and because
work-related stress may only be completely comprehensible to fellow police
officers (Ellison and Genz, 1983; Graf, 1986). Further, research indicates that
police officers who perceive themselves as having a strong work-related peer
support system, also perceived their jobs as being less stressful (LaRocco et al.,
1980; Graf, 1986). With respect to gender, peer support from fellow officers is
regarded as especially important to female and minority officers who are
``breaking and entering'' into an occupation that has traditionally been
dominated by White male officers (Walker, 1985; Martin, 1990).
Bureaucratic characteristics of police organizations are identified as a third
major source of stress among police officers (Violanti and Aron, 1993). Studies
have identified the unique characteristics of police agencies as a significant
factor predicting stress among police officers (Spielberger et al., 1981; Maslach,
1982; Martelli et al., 1989; Brown and Campbell, 1990). Organizational stressors
include the events precipitated by police administration that are troublesome to
members of the organization. Given the bureaucratic nature of police
organizations (such as impersonal rules, and a distinct chain of command)
individual input at the workplace is often reduced to a minimal level (Coman
and Evans, 1991). Furthermore, Golembiewski and Kim (1991) make the
argument that the quasi-military nature of police organizations tends to breed
alienation among police officers. This is especially problematic as police
officers are required to exercise considerable discretion while being tightly
controlled by a plethora of administrative rules surrounding their work.
The fourth major source of stress in police work involves work/family
relationships. Research on work/family interface have long recognized that the
personal lives of police officers are affected by the unique nature of police work
which, in turn, makes officers perceive their job as more psychologically and
physically stressful (Hughes et al., 1992; Galinsky et al., 1993; 1996). Several
studies have identified work-family conflict as an important predictor of
psychological burnout among police officers (Jackson and Maslach, 1982;
Burke, 1989; 1993). This is particularly true for female officers because the
demands of their domestic role as wife and mother are greater than those of
male police officers (Martin, 1980, p. 200). For example, research findings
suggest that marriage is distinctly beneficial for most husbands but much less
for most wives (Bernard, 1972), and married women experience more strain
than do married men (Gove and Tudor, 1973). However, very few studies have
empirically examined this issue within the context of gender and police work.
The final source of police stress concerns the availability and choice of
coping mechanisms adopted by male and female police officers in order to
reduce their stress. Although coping literature is replete with varied definitions
of the concept of coping, most researchers agree that only the conscious use of a
cognitive or behavioral strategy that is intended to reduce perceived stress or
improve a person's resources to deal with stress reflects the coping process
(Evans et al., 1993; Anshel, 2000).
A review of the literature on stress reveals that individuals in a variety of
professions usually take two approaches to reduce psychological and physical
stress (Burke, 1993). The first approach focuses on positive coping strategies
that usually involve gaining family and social support in an attempt to reduce
stress. A few examples of positive coping strategies include support group
meetings, sharing stressful experiences with others (including family
members), and religious-based support groups. The second approach used to
cope with stress includes negative coping strategies. Generally, negative
coping strategies involve self-destructive methods to reduce stress, including
increased cigarette smoking, and avoidance of friends and family members.
Violanti et al. (1985) also observed that certain stress-related job ``demands'' of
policing are also associated with alcohol use. They argued that psychological
and physical stress is directly or indirectly related to alcohol use. Similarly,
Haar and Morash (1999) found that male and female officers use different
coping methods, attempting to reduce their stress at the workplace.
Not surprisingly, positive coping mechanisms are considered to be the more
appropriate approach to reduce psychological and physical stress. Several
studies indicate that improper or maladaptive coping contributes to the
intensity of perceived stress instead of reducing stress levels (Lazarus, 1990;
Aldwin, 1994). In addition, failure to cope effectively with stress can lead to
long-term and chronic stress (Loo, 1984). Police officers who use maladaptive
coping skills (e.g. excessive alcohol intake, smoking, overeating, or drug use)
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are more likely to experience chronic, long-term stress (Hurrel, 1986).
Consequently, ongoing and long-term police stress can result in burnout,
reduced motivation and, ultimately, withdrawal from police work (Maslach,
1976; Violanti and Aron, 1993).
After reviewing the body of literature on police stress and gender, it is clear
that we do not clearly know how some of the main sources of stress related to
police work impact both male and female officers. Using a comparison of both
male and female officers, the current study explores the impact of work
environment, coping mechanisms, and work-family conflict on psychological
and physical stress of male and female police officers.
Methodology
The current study utilizes data that was originally used in Gershon's (1999)
study titled ``Police stress and domestic violence in police families in Baltimore,
Maryland, 1997-1999.'' We acquired this data set from Inter-university
Consortium for Political and Social Research's (ICPSR #2976) Web site.
The sampling strategy that was used in data collection for Gershon's study
involved three steps:
(1) obtain the total number of sworn employees in each precinct for all
shifts;
(2) attend one or two roll calls for each shift in all nine of the Baltimore
precincts and main headquarters to obtain a convenience sample of
volunteers; and
(3) distribute self-administered questionnaires to police officers who
volunteered to participate in the study.
The reported response rate was 68 percent in the original study (see Gershon,
1999 for more details). The five-page instrument distributed to Baltimore police
officers included questions regarding symptoms of psychological and physical
stress and likely stressors, perceptions of current stress levels, coping
mechanisms to deal with stress, and health outcomes related to stress.
Dependent variable
The instrument developed to measure police stress in Gershon's (1999) survey
was adopted with minor modifications from the brief symptom inventory (BSI),
a brief form of the Symptom Check List 90 (Derogatis and Melisaratos, 1983).
The original BSI instrument comprise 53 items, which measure nine
dimensions of psychological and physical symptoms of stress. Each of the
items is rated on a five-point scale of distress ranging from not at all (0) to
extremely troublesome (4). The BSI was developed in 1975 and is designed to
assess the psychological symptom patterns of community residents, and
psychiatric and medical patients (Derogatis and Savitz, 1999). Its psychometric
validity has been tested and sustained in numerous empirical studies reported
in the USA (for a review see Derogatis and Savitz, 1999).
Gershon's (1999) survey includes three of the nine dimensions of stress
symptoms and uses a four-point scale of distress ranging from never (1) to
always (4). The first dimension is somatization, a scale that reflects the
psychological distress arising from perception of bodily dysfunction.
Complaints typically focus on cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, respiratory, and
other systems with strong autonomic mediation. Aches, pains, and discomfort
localized in the gross musculature are also frequent manifestations of stress.
The second dimension is anxiety, a scale in which general indicators such as
restless, nervousness, and panic attacks are represented. The third dimension
is depression, a scale that reflects a broad range of the elements constituting the
clinical depressive syndrome. Symptoms of dysphoric effect and mood are
represented, as are signs of withdrawal of interest in activities, lack of
motivation, and loss of vital energy (for a detailed discussion of dimensions see
Derogatis et al., 1973). Survey items contained in each scale are presented in
Appendix 1.
Independent variables
The current study also includes six independent variables in three major
contexts including:
(1) work environment;
(2) work-family conflict; and
(3) stress coping mechanisms.
Three variables are used to represent the characteristics unique to the police
work environment. First, negative exposures related to police work are used to
measure the dangerous or negative aspects of work events that police officers
often experience (e.g. making violent arrests, shooting someone, attending
police funerals, etc.). Second, camaraderie is a measure of peer support and
trust within police officers' immediate work groups (e.g. cooperation between
units, and trust between police partners). And third, unfairness measures police
officers' perceptions of treatment as an officer both within the context of
bureaucratic nature of police organization and by the media.
Work-family conflict and its impact on psychological and physical stress of
individual police officers are measured by spillover. Unhappiness in someone's
personal life, and workplace burnout are thought to have significant influence
on stress levels. This would include those situations were police officers are too
physically and emotionally exhausted to deal with their spouses or significant
others, and they begin to treat family the way that they treat suspects at work.
This study examines how the ``spillover'' of conflict associated with family and
work impacts stress of both male and female police officers.
This study also uses two measures of coping mechanisms including
constructive and destructive coping mechanisms. Constructive coping is a
measure of direct, positive, and active responses to work-related stress (e.g. talk
to spouse, relative and friends about the problem, make a plan of action and
follow it, pray for guidance and strength, etc.). Destructive coping measures the
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negative and avoidance techniques used to deal with work-related stress (e.g.
stay away from everyone, yell or shout at spouses/significant others or family
members, smash or break things, increased smoking, drinking, and/or
gambling, or pretend that nothing is wrong).
Five demographic variables are used as control measures in this analysis:
(1) ethnicity;
(2) marital status;
(3) education status;
(4) rank; and
(5) years of service.
Previous studies suggest that the rank of officers, and years of police service
are important occupational characteristics associated with exposure to
stressors and experience of their consequences (Robinson, 1981; Gudjonsson
and Adlam, 1985; Fielding, 1987; Brown and Campbell, 1990). Other studies
found inconsistent and weak relationships of stress and individual
demographic characteristics (e.g. Maslach, 1982; Burke and Richardsen, 1993;
Burke, 1993). We include these five control variables to ensure that the
potentially intervening effects of respondent demographic background or work
experience are not accounting for any observed relationships between work
environment, work-family conflict, coping mechanisms, and the reporting of
stress symptoms among officers. See Appendix 2 for the correlation matrix of
all the variables included in this study.
Findings
Table I reports the major demographic characteristics of the survey
respondents. The survey sample includes 943 male officers (86 percent) and 157
Variables
Gender
Female = 0
Male = 1
Ethnicity
White = 0
African American = 1
Marriage
Not married = 0
Married = 1
Education attainment
BA and + = 0
Less than BA = 1
Rank
Supervisor = 0
Table I.
Officer = 1
Descriptive statistics of
demographic variables Years of service
Mean (SD)
11.52 (9.28)
n
%
157
943
14.3
85.7
696
355
66.2
33.8
441
658
40.1
59.9
326
768
29.8
70.2
202
898
18.4
81.6
female officers (14 percent). There are 696 officers who identified themselves as
White (66 percent), and 355 officers who identify themselves as African
American (34 percent). Few respondents are in the other racial categories. For
the simplicity of comparison, percentages for the variable ethnicity are
calculated based on White and African American officers only. About 60
percent of officers in this survey are married. The majority of the respondents
(70 percent) do not have a college degree. A total of 18 percent of the survey
respondents stated their ranks as sergeant or higher. The average length of
police service is about 12 years.
Our first research question examines the levels of clinically developed
measures of stress between male and female officers in the Baltimore City
Police Department. Table II presents the results of a comparison between male
and female police officers on all of the dependent and independent variables
using t-tests. The findings indicate that female officers have statistically
significant higher levels of stress in two of the three indexes measuring
psychological and physical stress. The means of depression and somatization
among female officers (1.58, 1.54) are both higher than those of their male
counterparts (1.47, 1.36), respectively. However, no statistically significant
difference was found between male and female officers on anxiety.
Among the three sets of independent variables, statistically significant
differences were found between male and female officers in all three measures
of work environment. Male officers were found to have experienced more work
related negative exposures (1.34) and tended to report higher levels of
camaraderie (3.62) than do their female counterparts (1.22, 3.44), respectively.
Male officers reported a higher level of unfairness in the department (3.04) than
their female counterparts (2.81). There were no statistically significant
differences detected between male and female officers in the means of spillover.
And finally, we found statistically significant gender differences in coping
Dependent variable
Somatization
Anxiety
Depression
Work environment
Negative exposures
Camaraderie
Unfairness
Work-family conflict
Spillover
Coping
Constructive coping
Destructive coping
Note: * p < 0.05
Baltimore PD
Scale mean (SD)
Male officers
Scale mean (SD)
Female officers
Scale mean (SD)
t-test
1.39 (0.38)
1.27 (0.36)
1.47 (0.39)
1.36 (0.36)
1.27 (0.36)
1.45 (0.38)
1.54 (0.45)
1.26 (0.37)
1.58 (0.45)
4.58*
±0.16
3.56*
1.33 (0.65)
3.60 (0.80)
3.00 (0.66)
1.34 (0.65)
3.62 (0.80)
3.04 (0.66)
1.22 (0.61)
3.44 (0.84)
2.81 (0.62)
±2.21*
±2.70*
±3.98*
2.38 (0.78)
2.40 (0.78)
2.30 (0.77)
±1.43
2.39 (0.60)
1.55 (0.33)
2.35 (0.60)
1.56 (0.33)
2.66 (0.57)
1.50 (0.32)
5.98*
±2.17*
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Table II.
Testing the differences
in the dependent and
independent variables
between male and
female police officers in
Baltimore PD
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mechanisms employed by police officers. Female officers seemed to use more
constructive coping (2.66) than male officers (2.35). Although statistically
significant, the differences in the destructive coping measures were rather
marginal when male (1.56) and female officers (1.50) are compared.
Tables III and IV show the results of separate multivariate analyses used to
answer our second research question (whether the sources of stress and coping
strategies are indeed similar between the two gender groups). Both the
unstandardized and standardized (beta) coefficients are reported to document
the relative contribution of each individual variable to the equations for the
three dimensions of stress[1]. In both the male and female police officer
samples, the R2 statistics for all of the regression models are statistically
significant, ranging from 0.24 on the anxiety dimension (female sample) to 0.34
on the depression dimension (male sample).
In the male police officer sample, the results of regression analysis indicate
that the majority of the independent variables have statistically significant
impact on all three stress indexes. More specifically, we found that four
variables are particularly important in predicting the levels of both
psychological and physical stress among male officers. These four variables
include:
(1) negative exposures to police work;
(2) camaraderie (work environment);
(3) spillover effect (work-family conflict); and
(4) destructive coping (coping strategy).
Physical stress
Somatization
b
Table III.
Regression analyses ±
somatization, anxiety
and depression as the
dependent variables
using the male officers
sample
Work environment
Negative exposures
Camaraderie
Unfairness
Work-family conflict
Spillover
Coping
Constructive coping
Destructive coping
Demographic
Ethnicity
Marriage
Education
Rank
Years of service
Adjusted R2
Note: * p < 0.05
Psychological stress
Anxiety
Depression
b
b
0.086
±0.076
±0.007
0.157*
±0.174*
-0.013
0.088
±0.043
±0.008
0.163*
±0.099*
±0.016
0.067
±0.074
0.035
0.115*
±0.159*
0.062
0.102
0.227*
0.090
0.204*
0.102
0.214*
0.010
0.259
0.016
0.238*
0.015
0.330
0.025
0.308*
±0.006
0.339
±0.009
0.294*
±0.041
±0.064
0.012
0.014
±0.000
0.276*
±0.054
±0.089*
0.016
0.017
±0.021
±0.034
±0.060
±0.000
±0.002
0.003
0.340*
±0.041
±0.078*
±0.000
±0.002
0.075*
±0.059
±0.033
0.011
0.021
0.001
0.288*
±0.075
±0.045
0.014
0.024
0.031
Physical stress
Somatization
b
Work environment
Negative exposures
Camaraderie
Unfairness
Work-family conflict
Spillover
Coping
Constructive coping
Destructive coping
Demographic
Ethnicity
Marriage
Education
Rank
Years of service
Adjusted R2
0.083
±0.051
±0.023
0.102
±0.093
±0.031
Psychological stress
Anxiety
Depression
b
b
0.047
±0.037
0.044
0.070
±0.082
0.071
0.093
±0.057
0.030
0.116
±0.107
0.041
0.104
0.174*
0.112
0.226*
0.117
0.199*
0.067
0.510
0.080
0.345*
±0.057
0.365
±0.082
0.299*
±0.127
0.516
±0.154*
0.355*
±0.009
0.072
±0.020
0.031
0.003
0.241*
±0.011
0.090
±0.024
0.027
0.047
0.039
0.103
±0.082
0.103
0.007
0.333*
0.042
0.111
±0.083
0.075
0.093
0.051
0.059
±0.008
0.102
0.012
0.297*
0.054
0.063
±0.008
0.073
0.156
Note: * p < 0.05
Moreover, all of the signs of the four statistically significant variables are
pointed in the hypothesized directions (see Table III). We also discovered that
married male officers have less psychological stress compared to unmarried
male officers. And it appears that the years of service in the police force is a
statistically significant contributor to depression, as reported by male officers.
In comparison, our regression analysis using the female officer sample
revealed some more interesting findings (see Table IV). First, none of the work
environment measures yielded statistically significant impact on female police
officer stress. It seemed that female officers' stress was not influenced by the
three variables measuring work environment[2]. In addition, it is also
interesting to note that none of the demographic variables were statistically
significant predictors of female officers' psychological and physical stress.
Second, similar to those findings from the male officer sample, spillover
(work-family conflict) and destructive coping (coping strategy) were
statistically significant contributors to female officer stress. However, unlike
those found in the male officer sample, constructive coping is now a
statistically significant ``buffer'' to depression for female officers. It is important
to point out that although fewer variables are significant in predicting stress
levels of female officers, the explanatory power of the two variables (i.e.
spillover and destructive coping) are high judging by their respective beta
weights. The variance explained measures (R2 ) obtained from the three
regression analyses using the female sample (R2 = 0.30, 0.24, and 0.33
respectively) are similar to those obtained using the male officer sample
(R2 = 0.29, 0.28, and 0.34 respectively).
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Table IV.
Regression analyses ±
somatization, anxiety
and depression as the
dependent variables
using the female
officers sample
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Discussion and conclusions
In regard to our first research question, the findings of this study indicate that
female officers do have statistically significant higher levels of somatization
and depression compared to their male counterparts, respectively. These
findings are generally consistent with relevant previous research findings in
the area of psychology and mental health (e.g. Derogatis and Savitz, 1999).
Nevertheless, we find no evidence to suggest that male and female police
officers differ statistically in the clinically developed measure of anxiety[3].
To answer our second research question, a multivariate analysis examines
the sources of stress and coping strategies used by male and female officers.
We found both convergent and divergent effects of work environment, workfamily conflict, and coping strategies on the physical and psychological stress
of police officers. In both male and female officer samples, there appears to be
convergent impact of spillover and destructive coping on all three measures of
stress (somatization, anxiety, and depression). Judging from the signs and
values of the standardized regression coefficients (beta), the impact of spillover
and destructive coping are consistently the largest, which suggests that both
are among the most important job stressors in police work.
There are unmistakable signs of divergent effects of some work
environment, coping, and demographic variables on stress that appear to be
gender specific. For example, in the analysis using the female officer sample,
neither the work environment variables nor the demographic variables are
statistically significant predictors of any measures of stress. Yet, unlike the
corresponding finding from male officer sample, constructive coping has been
found to reduce depression among female officers.
To further our understanding of the intricate nature of police work
environment, we compared the percentage of male and female police officers
that agreed to specific individual items (see Appendix 3 for analysis of item
responses). The results of comparison between the two groups revealed that
constructive coping was found to be a statistically significant stress-reducing
factor for one type of female police officer stress ± depression. About half of all
the female officers in the sample indicated that they have frequently or always
used the following coping strategies:
.
rely on your faith in God to see you through this rough time (female ±
61.9 percent; male ± 35.3 percent);
.
pray for guidance and strength (female ± 59.1 percent; male ± 28.5
percent);
.
talk with your spouse, relative or friend about the problem (female ± 52.3
percent; male ± 37.1 percent); and
.
make a plan of action and follow it (female ± 48.0 percent; male ± 44.2
percent).
Apparently, there are differences between male and female officers in using
constructive coping strategies. Male police officers appear to rely far less on
spiritual guidance and on consulting spouse, other family members and friends
when dealing with stress. We suggest that this observation has significant
policy implications.
Policy implications
The results of this study provide the basis for several policy implications
related to police stress and gender. First, our findings suggest that police
administrators should pay attention to the convergent factors that lead to
police officer stress. Stressors such as work-family conflict and negative coping
are common among both male and female officers. To ameliorate the stress
associated with work-family conflict, police management should play a leading
role in creating greater flexibility in accommodating police officers'
professional, personal, and family needs. In more practical terms, efforts need
to be made to actively solicit input from both police officers and their family
members. For example, police stress training sessions targeting work-family
conflict should consider the possibility of involving both police officers and
their spouses/significant others.
Second, with regard to improving police officers' coping skills, police stress
management programs should be tailored to fit the specific needs of a police
department. A sensible approach would involve the following three major
components:
(1) assessment of police officers' physical and psychological stress, which
includes identifying both internal and external stressors;
(2) monitoring police officers' adaptive and maladaptive coping skills; and
(3) effective use of appropriate intervention strategies such as peer
counseling.
In particular, peer counseling could be a realistic and effective way to deal with
police officer stress (Klyver, 1983). Some male police officers are notoriously
shy in seeking professional help for fear of being viewed as weak by fellow
officers (Graf, 1986).
Finally, police stress management programs could also benefit from learning
the divergent impact of work environment and coping mechanisms on police
stress that is gender specific. Our study indicates that work environment has
had greater impact on stress of male police officers. While negative exposures
to work related incidents remain a significant stressor to male officers,
camaraderie among colleagues could counteract its negative impact on the well
being of male police officers. Although we did not find a statistically significant
impact of work environment on female officers' stress in this study, the signs of
the indicators of work environment were similar in both gender groups.
Additionally, it is encouraging that constructive coping has been found to have
a significant impact on reducing depression for female police officers. The
constructive coping techniques used by female officers that result in decreased
depression could be promoted among male police officers in pursuit of similarly
positive impact on their stress. In sum, employee stress is an important issue
that no police agency can afford to overlook. Stress management in policing is
Gender and
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essential because police work is such a highly stressful profession. In addition,
police officers unable to deal effectively with stress might fail to provide
efficient quality police services to citizens.
We would like to point out three caveats in regard to the findings of our
study. First, we acknowledge that the findings derived from our analysis were
based on a large police department located in the east coast. Therefore, the
results might be more informative to large police agencies compared to
medium-sized, or smaller police agencies. Second, we would caution the
possible risk of model specification errors. Third, although we are able to test
our hypotheses based on larger sub-samples of male (n = 943) and female
officers (n = 157) than many of the previous police stress and gender studies,
we would prefer even greater numbers from broader jurisdictions in future
studies on this topic.
We invite other police scholars and practitioners to join in the study of police
stress management with an eye on further exploring possible group (e.g.
gender, race) differences. Longitudinal and cross-sectional studies are needed to
both increase our understanding of the sources of police stress, and to develop
more effective responses to manage police officer stress. We hope that our
study of the convergent and divergent impact of work environment, workfamily conflict, and coping mechanisms on female and male officer stress is a
step forward in police stress research.
Notes
1. Multicollinearity is a potential serious problem associated with the use of ordinary least
square (OLS) regression analysis. Accordingly, the variance inflation factor (VIF) often is
used to detect whether collinearity exists among independent variables. Some researchers
use a VIF score of 4 or greater as an indication of noteworthy multicollinearity (Fisher and
Mason, 1980; Judge et al., 1988). The collinearity statistics run on theses data showed that
none of the VIF values exceeded 2. It is safe to say that multicollinearity was not a problem
in our analysis.
2. Our reviewers correctly pointed out that since we are using a convenience sample
originated from a single site the generalizability of our findings might be limited.
3. To our best knowledge, there is no prior study in policing using similar clinical measures
of stress as used in our current study. This renders a difficult exercise for us to compare
our findings to the existing literature in the field of policing.
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Appendix 1. Composite index construction
Dependent variables
Response categories are rated from 1 (never) to 4 (always).
704
Somatization (alpha = 0.76):
Questions. In the past six months, how often did you have:
± Pains or pounding in your heart and chest.
± Faintness or dizziness.
± Headaches or pressure in your head.
± Nausea, upset stomach, stomach pains.
± Trouble getting your breath.
± A lump in your throat.
Anxiety (alpha = 0.85):
Questions. In the past six months, how often did you have:
± Suddenly scared for no reason.
± Feeling that something bad was going to happen to you at work.
± Spells of terror or panic.
± Feeling so restless you could not sit still.
Depression (alpha = 0.67):
Questions. In the past six months, how often did you have:
± Lost of sexual interest or pleasure.
± Feelings of low energy or slowed down.
± Feelings of being trapped or caught.
± Blame yourself for things.
± Feeling blue.
± Feeling no interest in things.
± Feeling hopeless about the future.
± Thoughts of ending your life.
± Crying easily.
Independent variables
Negative exposures (alpha = 0.79):
Questions. If you have ever experienced any of the following, please indicate how much it
emotionally affected you. Please check N/A if you have not experienced it.
± Making a violent arrest.
± Shooting someone.
± Being the subject of an IID investigation.
± Responding to a call related to a chemical spill.
± Responding to a bloody crime scene.
± Personally knowing the victim.
± Being involved in a hostage situation.
± Attending a police funeral.
± Experiencing a needle stick injury or other exposure to blood and body fluids.
Response categories are: 0 (N/A), 1 (not at all), 2 (a little) and 3 (very much).
Camaraderie (alpha = 0.53):
Questions: Please check the box that best describes how much you agree with the following
statements:
± There is good and effective cooperation between units.
± I can trust my work partner.
Original response categories are from 1 (strongly agree) to 5 (strongly disagree). Categories have
been reversed coded in current study.
Unfairness (alpha = 0.60):
Questions. Please check the box that best describes how much you agree with the following
statements:
± Compared to my peers (same rank), I find that I am likely to be more criticized for my
mistakes.
± I feel that I am less likely to get chosen for certain assignment because of ``who I am'' (e.g.
race, gender, sexual orientation, physical characteristics).
± Within the department, gender related jokes are often made in my presence.
± When I am assertive or question the way things are done, I am considered militant.
± Media reports of alleged police wrong-doing are biased against us.
± The department tends to be more lenient in enforcing rules and regulations for female
officers.
Original response categories are from 1 (strongly agree) to 5 (strongly disagree). Categories have
been reversed coded in current study.
Spillover (alpha = 0.65):
Questions. Please check the box that best describes how much you agree with the following
statements:
± I often get home too physically and emotionally exhausted to deal with my spouse/
significant other.
± I catch myself treating my family the way I treat suspects.
± At home, I can never shake off the feeling of being a police officer.
± I expect to have the final say on how things are done in my household.
Original response categories are from 1 (strongly agree) to 5 (strongly disagree). Categories have
been reversed coded in current study.
Constructive coping (alpha = 0.66):
Questions. When dealing with stressful events at work, how often do you:
± Talk with your spouse, relative or friend about the problem.
± Pray for guidance and strength.
± Make a plan of action and follow it.
± Exercise regularly to reduce tension.
± Rely on your faith in God to see you through this rough time.
Response categories are from 1 (never) to 4 (always).
Destructive coping (alpha = 0.57):
Questions. When dealing with stressful events at work, how often do you:
± Stay away from everyone you want to be alone.
± Smoke more to help you relax.
± Yell or shout at your spouse/significant other, a family member, or a professional.
± Let your feelings out by smashing things.
± Hang out more with your fellow officers at a bar.
± Gamble.
± Increase your sexual activity.
± Try to act as if nothing is bothering you.
Response categories are from 1 (never) to 4 (always).
Gender and
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705
Table AI.
Note: * p < 0.05
Somatization
Anxiety
Depression
Negative exposure
Camaraderie
Unfairness
Spillover
Constructive coping
Destructive coping
Ethnicity
Marriage
Education
Rank
Years of service
1.000
0.612*
0.663*
0.277*
±0.267*
0.217*
0.383*
±0.074*
0.435*
±0.057
±0.008
0.030
±0.064*
0.139*
1.000
0.674*
0.267*
±0.205*
0.250*
0.402*
±0.113*
0.490*
±0.093*
±0.030
0.045
±0.041
0.085*
2
1.000
0.287*
±0.289*
0.295*
0.422*
±0.146*
0.485*
±0.074*
±0.027
0.018
±0.084*
0.160*
3
1.000
±0.119*
0.258*
0.206*
±0.041
0.253*
±0.155*
0.198*
±0.077*
±0.257*
0.473*
4
1.000
±0.263*
±0.153*
0.078*
±0.159*
0.012
±0.025
0.024
0.102*
±0.185*
5
1.000
0.350*
±0.153*
0.287*
±0.058
0.052
0.070*
±0.026
0.062*
6
1.000
±0.237*
0.474*
±0.072*
0.014
0.089*
±0.035
0.017
7
1.000
±0.124*
0.326*
±0.022
±0.035
±0.003
±0.132*
8
1.000
±0.082*
±0.021
0.070*
±0.009
0.071*
9
1.000
±0.157*
0.079*
0.148*
±0.219*
10
12
13
14
1.000
0.002 1.000
±0.134* 0.223* 1.000
0.272* ±0.105* ±0.476* 1.000
11
706
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
1
PIJPSM
25,4
Appendix 2. Correlation matrix
Appendix 3. Analysis of selected item responses
Constructive coping (percentage responded that they have frequently or always done the
following things when dealing with stressful events at work):
± Rely on your faith in God to see you through this rough time
(male ± 35.3 percent; female ± 61.9 percent).
± Pray for guidance and strength
(male ± 28.5 percent; female ± 59.1 percent).
± Talk with your spouse, relative or friend about the problem
(male ± 37.1 percent; female ± 52.3 percent).
± Make a plan of action and follow it
(male ± 44.2 percent; female ± 48.0 percent).
± Exercise regularly to reduce tension
(male ± 37.3 percent; female ± 27.9 percent).
Spillover (percentage strongly agree or agree with the followings items):
± I often get home too physically and emotionally exhausted to deal with my spouse/
significant other
(male ± 42.4 percent; female ± 41.7 percent).
± I catch myself treating my family the way I treat suspects
(male ± 74.2 percent; female ± 81.2 percent).
± At home, I can never shake off the feeling of being a police officer
(male ± 63.3 percent; female ± 71.1 percent).
± I expect to have the final say on how things are done in my household
(male ± 61.3 percent; female ± 59.3 percent).
Destructive coping (percentage responded that they have frequently or always done the following
things when dealing with stressful events at work):
± Stay away from everyone, you want to be alone
(male ± 10.5 percent; female ± 13.1 percent).
± Smoke more to help you relax
(male ± 11.3 percent; female ± 13.0 percent).
± Yell or shout at your spouse/significant other, a family member, or a professional
(male ± 5.6 percent; female ± 6.5 percent).
± Let your feelings out by smashing things
(male ± 1.2 percent; female ± 1.9 percent).
± Hang out more with your fellow officers at a bar
(male ± 5.5 percent; female ± 1.3 percent).
± Gamble
(male ± 1.1 percent; female ± 1.2 percent).
± Increase your sexual activity
(male ± 14.4 percent; female ± 8.5 percent).
± Try to act as if nothing is bothering you
(male ± 28.2 percent; female ± 21.4 percent).
Negative exposures (percentage responded that the following items affect them emotionally very
much):
± Attending a police funeral
(male ± 53.5 percent; female ± 64.5 percent).
± Being the subject of an IID investigation
(male ± 34.9 percent; female ± 27.3 percent).
± Experiencing a needle stick injury or other exposure to blood and body fluids
(male ± 29.7 percent; female ± 29.7 percent).
± Making a violent arrest
(male ± 19.4 percent; female ± 18.8 percent).
Gender and
police stress
707
PIJPSM
25,4
708
± Personally knowing the victim
(male ± 15.7 percent; female ± 20.6 percent).
± Responding to a bloody crime scene
(male ± 15.2 percent; female ± 18.1 percent).
± Shooting someone
(male ± 8.9 percent).
± Being involved in a hostage situation
(male ± 8.1 percent; female ± 6.5 percent).
± Responding to a call related to a chemical spill
(male ± 4.6 percent; female ± 3.9 percent).
Camaraderie (percentage strongly agree or agree with the followings items):
± There is good and effective cooperation between units
(male ± 27.8 percent; female ± 33.5 percent).
± I can trust my work partner
(male ± 6.2 percent; female ± 11.9 percent).