Gender and Police Stress: The Convergent and Divergent Impact of Work Environment, Work-Family Conflict, and Stress Coping Mechanisms of Female and Male Police Officers

• NCJ Number: 198486
• Journal: Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management Volume: 25 Issue: 4 Dated: 2002 Pages: 687-708
• Author(s): Ni He; Jihong Zhao; Carol A. Archbold
• Editor(s): Lawrence F. Travis III
• Date Published: 2002
• Length: 22 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study, based in New England, investigated whether levels of clinically developed measures of psychological and physical stress were similar between male and female police officers and the impact of work environment, work-family conflict, and stress coping mechanisms on the stress of both male and female officers.

Abstract

To understand the intricate nature of the police work environment, this study used survey data from a large metropolitan police department in New England that included 943 male officers and 157 female officers to explore the impact of work environment, work-family conflict, and coping mechanisms on physical and psychological stresses for both male and female officers. To measure the levels of physical and psychological stress in the workplace for both male and female officers, four categories of explanatory variables were used including: work environment, work-family conflict, coping mechanisms, and demographic. Study findings indicate that female officers did have statistically significant higher levels of somatization and depression compared to male officers. Evidence did not suggest that male and female police officers differed statistically in the clinically developed measure of anxiety. In reference to coping mechanisms and physical and psychological stress, the study found convergent and divergent effects. For both males and females, there appeared to be convergent impact of spillover and destructive coping on three measures of stress, somatization, anxiety, and depression. In addition, results indicated that constructive coping was a statistically significant stress-reducing factor for one type of female police officer stress, depression. The study provides a basis for three policy implications related to police stress and gender: (1) police administrators should pay attention to the convergent factors that lead to officer stress; (2) police stress management programs should be tailored to fit the specific needs of a police department; and (3) police stress management programs should learn the divergent impact of work environment and coping mechanisms on police stress that is gender specific. References and appendices 1-2