English police officers’ alcohol consumption and links with organisational job stressors
| Author | Jonathan Houdmont,Liza Jachens |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/0032258X211024689 |
| Published date | 01 December 2022 |
| Date | 01 December 2022 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Article
English police officers’
alcohol consumption and
links with organisational
job stressors
Jonathan Houdmont
School of Medicine, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK
Liza Jachens
Department of Psychology, Webster University, Bellevue, Geneva,
Switzerland
Abstract
This study describes alcohol consumption and examines associations with organisational
job stressors among female (n¼493) and male (n¼707) English police officers.
Significantly fewer female than male officers reported hazardous alcohol consumption
(32% vs. 44%) and probable harmful alcohol consumption (5% vs. 11%). Stressor
exposure was associated with alcohol consumption among males only, with high
exposure to job control, work relationships, and role clarity stressors associated with
elevated odds of probable harmful alcohol consumption. Findings suggest alcohol con-
sumption represents a concern in English policing and point to stressor exposure
reduction as a mechanism to decrease alcohol consumption.
Keywords
Alcohol consumption, AUDIT-C, Management Standards, police, stress
Globally, alcohol consumption is the seventh leading risk factor for deaths and
disability-adjusted life-years (Griswold et al., 2018). Alcohol consumption, even at low
levels or consumed infrequently, is associated with increased risk of a range of illnesses
(Yasin and Banoub, 2018). In the organisational context, alcohol consumption represents
Corresponding author:
Jonathan Houdmont, School of M edicine, University of Notti ngham, B Floor, Yang Fujia Bui lding, Jubilee
Campus, Wollaton Road, Nottingham NG8 1BB, UK.
Email: jonathan.houdmont@nottingham.ac.uk
The Police Journal:
Theory, Practice and Principles
ªThe Author(s) 2021
Article reuse guidelines:
sagepub.com/journals-permissions
DOI: 10.1177/0032258X211024689
journals.sagepub.com/home/pjx
2022, Vol. 95(4) 674–690
Houdmont and Jachens 675
a preventable threat to various aspects of operational effectiveness including, inter alia,
sickness absence and presenteeism, job performance, and work accidents (Anderson,
2012). In a wide-ranging review of the health and wellbeing of emergency responders in
the United Kingdom (UK), The Royal Foundation (2020) highlighted a paucity of
research on alcohol misuse and called for work to inform interventions that address the
needs of emergency responders. The present study represents a response to that call with
a focus on alcohol consumption in English police officers. Specifically, we set out to
examine the frequency and quantity of alcohol consumption, and prevalence of hazar-
dous and probable harmful consumption, in a large and diverse sample of police officers.
In addition, we examine linkages between alcohol consumption and exposure to poten-
tially modifiable organisational job stressors embedded within the psychosocial work
environment that might provide a focus for intervention activities targeting alcohol
misuse.
Alcohol consumption in UK policing
High rates of alcohol consumption have been observed worldwide among police officers
(Syed et al., 2020), yet surprisingly little is known about consumption rates in UK
policing. A small body of evidence exists concerning the prevalence of alcohol con-
sumption among UK police officers and how this compares to policing in other national
contexts. Research involving police officers from five nations whose alcohol consump-
tion was assessed using the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT: Barbor
et al., 2001) showed a mean consumption rate of 5.95 (maximum possible range 0–40)
among 102 UK officers. This rate was higher than observed among officers from the
United States (US) (M¼4.18) and Canada (M¼5.17), yet below rates found in
Australia (7.16) and New Zealand (6.95) (M ´enard et al., 2016). In all five national
samples the mean rate fell below the threshold at which consumpt ion is considered
hazardous (AUDIT score 8). Across the multinational sample as a whole, male officers
reported significantly higher consumption (M´enard and Arter, 2014). Similar consump-
tion rates have been observed in other US and Australian studies (Davey et al., 2000a;
Violanti et al., 2011). Studies such as these provide a useful indication of mean alcohol
consumption rates in policing and permit cross-national comparisons. However, two
shortcomings in the UK evidence base point to the need for further investigation in this
context. First, existing knowledge is based on a single sample of 102 officers. Research
on a larger scale is required to generate a reliable indication of alcohol consumption in
UK policing and permit stratification by socio- and occupational-demographic groups.
Second, the existing knowledge base describes only the mean alcohol consumption rate.
The proportion and socio- and occupational-demographic characteristics of police offi-
cers reporting hazardous and probable harmful alcohol consumption remains unknown.
This represents an important gap in the knowledge base since knowledge in this regard
would help to establish whether alcohol consumption in UK policing represents an
occupational health concern. Moreover, identification of at-risk groups is necessary to
inform the targeting of intervention resources. In the current study we seek to extend
current knowledge by examining alcohol consumption in a large and diverse sample of
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