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Positive Psychological Factors are Associated with Lower PTSD Symptoms among Police Officers: Post Hurricane Katrina
Author(s) -
McCanlies Erin C.,
Mnatsakanova Anna,
Andrew Michael E.,
Burchfiel Cecil M.,
Violanti John M.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
stress and health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.009
H-Index - 61
eISSN - 1532-2998
pISSN - 1532-3005
DOI - 10.1002/smi.2615
Subject(s) - posttraumatic growth , gratitude , psychology , clinical psychology , posttraumatic stress , psychological resilience , life satisfaction , population , psychiatry , medicine , environmental health , social psychology
Following Hurricane Katrina, police officers in the New Orleans geographic area faced a number of challenges. This cross‐sectional study examined the association between resilience, satisfaction with life, gratitude, posttraumatic growth, and symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder in 84 male and 30 female police officers from Louisiana. Protective factors were measured using the Connor–Davidson Resilience scale, Satisfaction with Life Scale, the Gratitude Questionnaire, and the Posttraumatic Growth inventory. Symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder were measured using the Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist—Civilian (PCL‐C). Potential associations were measured using linear regression and analysis of variance. Models were adjusted for age, sex, race, education, and alcohol. Mean PCL‐C symptoms were 29.5 ± 14.5 for females and 27.8 ± 12.1 for males. Adjusted mean levels of PCL‐C symptoms significantly decreased as quartiles of resilience ( p < .001), satisfaction with life ( p < .001), and gratitude ( p < .001) increased. In contrast, PCL‐C symptoms were not associated with posttraumatic growth in this sample. These results indicate that positive factors such as resilience, satisfaction with life, and gratitude may help mitigate symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder. To further explore these relationships, longitudinal follow‐up in a larger population would be of interest. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.