Frenkel Marie Ottilie, Giessing Laura, Egger-Lampl Sebastian, Hutter Vana, Oudejans Raoul R D, Kleygrewe Lisanne, Jaspaert Emma, Plessner Henning
Institute for Sport and Sport Sciences, Heidelberg University, Germany.
AIT Austrian Institute of Technology GmbH, Austria.
J Crim Justice. 2021 Jan-Feb;72:101756. doi: 10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2020.101756. Epub 2020 Oct 19.
Facing the COVID-19 pandemic, police officers are confronted with various novel challenges, which might place additional strain on officers. This mixed-method study investigated officers' strain over a three-month-period after the lockdown.
In an online survey, 2567 police officers (77% male) from Austria, Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, and Spain participated at three measurement points per country in spring, 2020. Three-level growth curve models assessed changes in strain and its relation to stressor appraisal, emotion regulation, and preparedness through training. To add context to the findings, free response answers about officers' main tasks, stressors, and crisis measures were coded inductively.
On average, officers seemed to tolerate the pandemic with slight decreases in strain over time. Despite substantial variance between countries, 66% of the variance occurred between individuals. Sex, work experience, stressor appraisal, emotion regulation, and preparedness significantly predicted strain. Risk of infection and deficient communication emerged as main stressors. Officers' reports allowed to derive implications for governmental, organizational, and individual coping strategies during pandemics.
Preparing for a pandemic requires three primary paths: 1) enacting unambiguous laws and increasing public compliance through media communication, 2) being logistically prepared, and 3) improving stress regulation skills in police training.
面对新冠疫情，警察面临各种新挑战，这可能给他们带来额外压力。这项混合方法研究调查了封锁后三个月期间警察的压力状况。
在一项在线调查中，来自奥地利、德国、瑞士、荷兰和西班牙的2567名警察（77%为男性）于2020年春季在每个国家的三个测量点参与调查。三级增长曲线模型评估了压力的变化及其与压力源评估、情绪调节和通过培训的准备情况之间的关系。为了给研究结果增添背景信息，对关于警察主要任务、压力源和危机措施的自由回答进行了归纳编码。
总体而言，警察似乎能够承受疫情，随着时间推移压力略有下降。尽管各国之间存在很大差异，但66%的差异存在于个体之间。性别、工作经验、压力源评估、情绪调节和准备情况显著预测了压力。感染风险和沟通不畅成为主要压力源。警察的报告有助于得出疫情期间政府、组织和个人应对策略的启示。
为应对疫情需要三条主要途径：1）制定明确的法律并通过媒体宣传提高公众的遵守程度，2）做好后勤准备，3）在警察培训中提高压力调节技能。
