title: [Evaluation methods in the work/stress correlations in law enforcement].
abstract: Stress in police: assessment methods.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  Police work is unanimously considered stressful. Prevention of stress in police is of the utmost importance, as a distressed officer could be hazardous for third parties. There is scientific evidence that the relationship between occupational stressors and their psychological and physical consequences can be described by Karasek's demand-control-support (DCS) model and the effort / reward imbalance (ERI) model of Siegrist.
  
  
  METHODS
  This study summarizes the results of surveys conducted using the DCS and ERI questionnaires.on police officers from the VI Mobile Unit of Genoa who were engaged in public order management at the G8 summit in L'Aquila in 2009.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In spite of the high alert due to expected threats to public order during the G8 meeting, police officers were not affected by "distress". When the policemen were compared to other categories of workers, their stress levels were in the lowest range. In most cases, the personality profile of these workers did not differ substantially from that of the general population. There was an association between personality and stress response. The levels of perceived stress were significantly associated with absence from work. The prevalence of mental disorders in police officers was significantly lower than that of the general population. Occupational stress was associated with indicators of depression, anxiety and burnout.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The DCS and ERI models yielded complementary results and proved to be effective in assessing the effects of stress in law enforcement. The extent of perceived stress does not directly depend on external events, but on the way in which these are handled: routine work may be more stressful than a single critical event. Special police forces are particularly resilient to stress, partly due to the characteristics and personality of individual officers, but mainly on account of their training. Occupational stress is associated with a lower level of psychological well-being and an increase in the frequency of absences from work.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Sanità Pubblica, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Roma. nicolamagnavita@tiscali.it
authors.forename: Nicola
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Magnavital
authors.forename: Sergio
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Garbarino
authors.forename: Johannes
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Siegrist
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003226:Congresses as Topic; D003863:Depression / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy; D007588:Job Satisfaction; D035846:Law Enforcement; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008960:Models, Psychological; D016495:Police; D012201:Reward; D057566:Self Report; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D023481:Terrorism; D055815:Young Adult