Gender Differences in Law Enforcement Officer Stress and Coping Strategies

Law enforcement officers, like many professionals, are not immune to the effect of stress on their overall health. In fact, law enforcement officers may be particularly vulnerable to these effects due to unique and sometimes traumatic stressors inherent in their work. Further, male and female officers may experience the stressors of the law enforcement profession, and the coping strategies used in response to stress, differently. Using survey data collected from a sample of law enforcement officers in a large urban police agency in the southeastern United States, this research examines the differences between male and female officers in terms of perception of stressors in policing and coping strategies used in response to stress. The findings indicate that female officers have significantly higher mean stress scores on several items (particularly those regarding safety factors) and are significantly more likely to use positive coping strategies compared to male officers.

Hippocampal volume and volume asymmetry prospectively predict PTSD symptom emergence among Iraq-deployed soldiers

Background Evidence suggests a link between smaller hippocampal volume (HV) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However, there has been little prospective research testing this question directly and it remains unclear whether smaller HV confers risk or is a consequence of traumatization and PTSD. Methods U.S. soldiers (N = 107) completed a battery of clinical assessments, including structural magnetic resonance imaging pre-deployment. Once deployed they completed monthly assessments of traumatic-stressors and symptoms. We hypothesized that smaller HV would potentiate the effects of traumatic stressors on PTSD symptoms in theater. Analyses evaluated whether total HV, lateral (right v. left) HV, or HV asymmetry (right – left) moderated the effects of stressor-exposure during deployment on PTSD symptoms. Results Findings revealed no interaction between total HV and average monthly traumatic-stressors on PTSD symptoms b = −0.028, p = 0.681 [95% confidence interval (CI) −0.167 to 0.100]. However, in the context of greater exposure to average monthly traumatic stressors, greater right HV was associated with fewer PTSD symptoms b = −0.467, p = 0.023 (95% CI −0.786 to −0.013), whereas greater left HV was unexpectedly associated with greater PTSD symptoms b = 0.435, p = 0.024 (95% CI 0.028–0.715). Conclusions Our findings highlight the importance of considering the complex role of HV, in particular HV asymmetry, in predicting the emergence of PTSD symptoms in response to war-zone trauma.

Stress, Trauma, and Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders

Obsessive-compulsive and related disorders (OCRDs) represent a newly defined category of disorders that include obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), hoarding disorder, body dysmorphic disorder, trichotillomania, and skin-picking disorder. Many environmental factors can influence the etiology and expression of obsessive-compulsive symptoms and OCD, such as exposure to environmental stressors, including traumatic and other life stressors. Stressors include incidents and experiences that disrupt a person’s homeostatic state and can range from mild acute stressors to traumatic stressors. Although all stressors are inherently stressful, most of them are not traumatic in nature. Although multiple researchers have reviewed the contributions of stress and trauma on OCD, currently no reviews exist that consider the associations among stress, trauma, and the other putative OCRDs. This chapter reviews the extant literature on the associations among OCRDs and stress, trauma, and posttraumatic stress disorder and discusses how these factors may influence the incidence, etiology, expression, and treatment of OCRDs.

How junior doctors perceive personalised yoga and group exercise in the management of occupational and traumatic stressors

ObjectivesJunior doctors are exposed to occupational and traumatic stressors, some of which are inherent to medicine. This can result in burnout, mental ill-health and suicide. Within a crossover pilot study comparing personalised, trauma-informed yoga to group-format exercise, qualitative interviews were conducted to understand the experience of junior doctors and whether such interventions were perceived to help manage these stressors.MethodsTwenty-one doctors, 76% female, were order-randomised to consecutive 8-week yoga and exercise programmes. Fifty-two interviews were recorded before and after each programme.ResultsMany participants reported being time poor, sleep-affected, frequently stressed and occasionally in physical pain/distress. Major stressor themes were workplace incivility, death/human suffering and shift work with minimal support. Both interventions were acceptable for different reasons. Personalised yoga offered a therapeutic alliance, time to check-in and reduced anxiety/rumination. Group exercise provided energy and social connection. One participant found yoga beneficial following an acute workplace trauma: ‘It was really eye opening how much I felt my body just needed to detox … I wouldn’t have gone to a group fitness the next day … I just wanted to relax and breathe …We still had a big debrief which was great … (but) I almost felt like … I dealt with it physically and emotionally before going into it (P20).’ConclusionJunior doctors found both interventions useful for stress management adjunctive to other organisational programmes though for different and complementary reasons, possibly related to delivery mode. Personalised, trauma-informed yoga provided a confidential therapeutic alliance whereas group exercise offered social connection.

Sexist Microaggressions: Traumatic Stressors Mediated by Self-Compassion

Women regularly endure sexist microaggressions, which are often associated with anger, depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, and trauma. The cumulative effects of sexist microaggressions may result in internalized sexism and undermine self-compassion. Notably, prolonged exposure to sexism is associated with trauma symptoms; however, the traumatic effects of sexist microaggressions have remained largely theoretical. Thus, we examined the role of sexist microaggressions as a traumatic stressor and evaluated self-compassion and internalized misogyny as mediators of sexism-based traumatic stress. With a sample of 370 adult cisgender women, results suggested that sexist microaggressions significantly and positively predicted trauma symptomology, and that this relationship was partially mediated by self-compassion but not internalized misogyny. Results supported sexism as a traumatic stressor, and low self-compassion as a mechanism through which sexist microaggressions result in traumatic stress. We discuss implications for research and practice.

Re-thinking trauma: Local journalism, peace-building and continuous traumatic stress (CTS) on the violent margins of Colombia

The study of trauma in journalism tends to assume that trauma exposure (whether it has been a single event or a series of cumulative episodes) is past and finite. However, this article argues that the notion of trauma exposure as temporally located in the past fails to adequately capture the experiences of local, indigenous journalists living and working in contexts of protracted conflict or violence. There is a growing, if contested, acknowledgement that existing conceptualizations of traumatic stress, such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), have limited utility in conditions of ongoing violence and danger. In contrast, and based on a participant observation study conducted over three years, this article proposes a spectrum of continuous traumatic stressors and charts the continuous traumatic stress (CTS) of four local reporters in Colombia, living and working in a context of intractable conflict. In this setting, where local journalists have become agents for peace, CTS conjoins the mental wellbeing of individual reporters with their capacity for peace-building.