Post-Traumatic Stress Symptoms in Police Officers Following Violent Assaults

Abstract

Based on a study of 681 German police officers who were violently assaulted we analyze first general pre-, peri- and post-traumatic risk factors (e.g. trauma severity, psychological adjustment, social support) of post-traumatic stress symptoms, second police-specific factors (e.g. colleague support) and third differences in the impact of these factors comparing male and female officers. Using regression analysis we show that risk factors that were found to be important for the general population partly hold for the special group of victimized police officers. Regarding police-specific factors regular preparatory and follow-up sessions reduce post-traumatic stress symptoms, while facing legal action following the assault increases it. The findings also reveal that three factors are significantly more strongly correlated with post-traumatic stress symptoms for female compared to male officers.