title: Gender and Age Differences in Trauma and PTSD Among Dutch Treatment-Seeking Police Officers.
abstract: Little is known about how age and gender are associated with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms and traumatic experiences in treatment-seeking police offers. In this study, we examined 967 diagnostic files of police officers seeking treatment for PTSD. Six hundred twelve (63%) of the referred police officers were diagnosed with PTSD (n = 560) or partial PTSD (n = 52). Police officers reported on average 19.5 different types of traumatic events (range 1-43). Those who experienced a greater variety of traumatic events suffered from more PTSD symptoms. Also, women reported more often direct life-threatening or private events as their index trauma than men and suffered from more PTSD symptoms than their male colleagues. Results indicate that police officers experience a considerable number of different traumatic events, which is significantly associated with PTSD symptoms. The results highlight the importance of early detection of PTSD symptoms in the police force.
authors.affiliation: *Academic Medical Center, Department of Psychiatry, University of Amsterdam; †Police Academy, Apeldoorn; ‡Foundation Centrum '45, Oegstgeest/Diemen; §Center for Psychological Trauma, Diemen; and ∥Arq Psychotrauma Expert Group, Diemen, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: Christianne A I
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: van der Meer
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bakker
authors.forename: Annika S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Smit
authors.forename: Susanne
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: van Buschbach
authors.forename: Melissa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: den Dekker
authors.forename: Gré J
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Westerveld
authors.forename: Renée C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Hutter
authors.forename: Berthold P R
authors.initials: BP
authors.lastname: Gersons
authors.forename: Miranda
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Olff
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008016:Life Change Events; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009426:Netherlands; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D016495:Police / Q000523:psychology*; D012737:Sex Factors; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000523:psychology*