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Trauma Resilience Training for Police: Psychophysiological and Performance Effects

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Abstract

The objective of this study is to test the effects of police trauma resilience training on stress and performance during a critical incident police work simulation. Rookie police officers (N = 18) participated in a randomized trial of a 10-week imagery and skills training program versus training as usual. Twelve months later, psychophysiological stress and police work performance were assessed during a live critical incident simulation. Training resulted in significantly less negative mood, less heart rate reactivity, a larger increase in antithrombin, and better police performance compared to controls. Trends for cortisol and self-reported stress also suggested benefits of training. This novel training program is a promising paradigm for improving police well-being, stress resiliency, and optimizing job performance.

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Abbreviations

CIT:

critical incident trauma

POMS:

profile of mood states

PTSD:

posttraumatic stress disorder

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Acknowledgement

The authors would like to thank the participating police cadets and officers, the management of the Police Academy of Solna and the Stockholm Police Department, as well as representatives of the special forces who made this study possible by volunteering their time and expertise. We are also grateful to the Swedish Work Environment Fund that financed the study (currently, Swedish Council for Working Life and Social Research), project reference numbers 91-0734 and 94-1782. In addition, we thank Drs. Todd Lucas and Nnamdi Pole for providing valuable feedback during the manuscript writing and editing process. Portions of the sample description and the critical incident simulation described in this article were presented in poster form at the 66th Annual Meeting of the American Psychosomatic Society, Baltimore, MD, March, 2008.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Family Medicine and Public Health Sciences, School of Medicine, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA

    Bengt B. Arnetz & Dana C. Nevedal

  2. Department of Psychology, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA

    Dana C. Nevedal & Mark A. Lumley

  3. Stockholm Centre for Public Health, Stockholm, Sweden

    Lena Backman

  4. Red Cross Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden

    Ake Lublin

  5. Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Wayne State University, 3800 Woodward, Suite 808, Detroit, MI, 48201, USA

    Bengt B. Arnetz

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  1. Bengt B. Arnetz
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  2. Dana C. Nevedal
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  3. Mark A. Lumley
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  4. Lena Backman
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  5. Ake Lublin
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Correspondence to Bengt B. Arnetz.

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Arnetz, B.B., Nevedal, D.C., Lumley, M.A. et al. Trauma Resilience Training for Police: Psychophysiological and Performance Effects. J Police Crim Psych 24, 1–9 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11896-008-9030-y

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