Stress management and health promotion intervention program for police forces
| Author | Liza Varvogli,George P Chrousos,Xanthi Tigani,Dimitra Liakopoulou,Christina Darviri |
| Published date | 01 June 2020 |
| DOI | 10.1177/1461355719898202 |
| Date | 01 June 2020 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Article
Stress management and health promotion
intervention program for police forces
Dimitra Liakopoulou
School of Medicine, University of Athens, Greece
Xanthi Tigani
School of Medicine, University of Athens, Greece
Liza Varvogli
School of Medicine, University of Athens, Greece
George P Chrousos
School of Medicine, University of Athens, Greece; Children’s Hospital Aghia Sofia, Greece
Christina Darviri
School of Medicine, University of Athens, Greece
Abstract
Police are exposed to considerable amounts of stress while undertaking their work; confronting not only a plethora of
stress factors common to the field of work, but also frequently experienced violence, aggression, environmental stressors
and traumatic events, thus leading to poor physical and mental health. This study aims to expand evidence on the role of
stress management in police forces. The study concerns a randomized control trial in a sample of police officers (N¼54)
randomly separated into intervention and control groups. The intervention group (N¼27) underwent Pythagorean Self-
Awareness Intervention (PSAI), a novel 8-week non-ph armaceutical self-referring intervention, wh ereas the control
group completed self-reported questionnaires that were used pre- and post-intervention in both groups. The majority
of participants were males in their mid-30s, with tertiary education, married, and had been working in police forces for
more than a decade; more than half were shift workers. Statistical analyses revealed beneficial changes in the intervention
group for the variables anger in, negative affect, cognitive speed and verbal memory compared with the control group. We
aspire to the introduction of PSAI as a method that have beneficial effects on police stress, cognitive amelioration and
management of negative feelings and anger.
Keywords
Occupational, work, stress management, police, police forces, anger, cognitive amelioration
Submitted 17 Dec 2018, accepted 10 Jun 2019
Introduction
It is commonly accepted that police forces constitute a
particularly stressful working environment (Kurtz et al.,
2015; Morash et al., 2006). Stress in police forces has
been of interest to the scientific community for over
Corresponding author:
Christina Darviri, Postgraduate Course Stress Management and Health
Promotion, School of Medicine, University of Athens, Soranou Ephesiou
4, GR 115-27, Athens, Greece.
Email: cdarviri@yahoo.com
International Journalof
Police Science & Management
2020, Vol. 22(2) 148–158
ªThe Author(s) 2020
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DOI: 10.1177/1461355719898202
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