Self Identification of Symptoms Related to PTSD and Potential Confounding Variables: A Quantitative Survey of Police Officers In a Southeastern Metropolitan Area Police Department Heather Jones, MS hjones24@student.gsu.edu CJAG Conference: 2014

Purpose of Study To determine whether police officers who are sworn and employed in a southeastern metropolitan agency will self identify symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and potential confounding variables.

Research Questions Will the sample population self identify PTSD symptoms? At what level do officers report symptoms? Has the officer been exposed to trauma? At what level was the trauma exposure? What, if any, relationship exists between PTSD symptoms and confounding variables such as: Gender Marital Status Divorce Dependents Finances Military Service

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder What is PTSD? Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder …a severe condition that may develop after a person is exposed to one or more, actual or threatened traumatic events, serious injury, or the threat of death to their selves or others. The event involves intense fear, helplessness, or horror. DSM IV, 1980, Foa & Tolin, 2006

PTSD is Not New Known as “Soldier’s Heart,” “Shell Shock,” “Nostalgia,” and “Battle Fatigue” Historical references to the disorder date back to the Trojan War, 3000 year ago Kates, 2008

Symptoms Avoidance of relationships, activities, or events which may remind the person of the traumatic event Hyper-arousal Hyper-vigilance Feelings of fear, sadness, guilt, and anger Difficulty sleeping, nightmares Diminished coping skills Intrusion of thoughts related to the trauma Webster, 2008

Dangers Self-Medicating Burnout Loss of outside relationships Stress-related illnesses Suicide

Preventions & Treatments Briefing Debriefing Post- Deployment Counseling (Therapy) SSRI’s and MDMA CBT Eye Movement Desensitization Ayahausca

Police Officers are Uniquely at Risk!

Continual Exposure Careers range from 15-25 years No significant break from trauma Constant threats Unique job exposures Occupational hazards such as trauma exposure: increase risk for aggression both personally and professionally Can, Hendy, & Imbody, 2013

Police Culture Stigma Expectations Police personality Misconceptions Agencies breeding negative police culture Internal Stress

Review of Literature PTSD in relation to policing, stress, coping strategies, debriefings, and counseling: Violanti et. al., 2006: BCOPS study, Buffalo, NY Rees & Smith, 2007: United Kingdom Stephens & Miller, 1998: New Zealand NONE- focus on self identification of symptoms in the Southeastern United States

PTSD Among Police, Years of Service, and Age: Exposure to trauma outside the normal realm of experience Officers used maladaptive coping skills, more neurotic, less agreeable, and less extroverted 11 years or less of service higher risk 25-39 years of age higher risk Haisch & Meyers, 2004:254 officers

Police Work Environment Multifaceted role Symptoms: sleep loss, depression, high levels of intrusion and avoidance symptoms, flashbacks Incidents involving death or serious injury to the officer: most traumatic Study concluded: an officers ability to cope with trauma was closely related to the agencies level of support—the politics Regehr et. al. 2003:11 officers

Effects of Trauma Exposure Impact does not end with retirement Of 100 officers- 16% depression, 36% PTSD symptoms -higher than that of average non-police Older officers higher rates of depression Slightly more female than male in rates of PTSD Trauma exposure make officers more susceptible to heart disease, hypertension, coronary artery disease, and chronic fatigue. Violanti et. al., 2006: 100 officers

Trauma Exposure: Debriefing 79% of 57 officers who received debriefing displayed higher scores for PTSD than those who did not debrief Addis & Stephens, 2007: 57 officers

Gender Civilians: gender asymmetry Police: gender symmetry Police: determining difference was how effectively an officers coped with trauma Lilly et. al., 2009: 157 officers, 124 civilians

Marital Status/Officer Relationships Officer’s ability to cope - positive relationships Humor diffused stress Horan et. al., 2012: 40 male and 77 female civilians

Other Life Stressors/Confounding Variables More non-police negative life events- financial troubles, death, divorce, arguments at home or work ---depression increased Hartley et. al., 2007: 100 officers Financial dependents in relation to police and trauma- no literature located

The Military (Armed Forces) “Many military and police prior to recent years- had two things working against them. No one warned them they might re-experience traumatic events and no one trained them in how to best handle it.” Grossman, 2008 Dept. of Veterans Affairs, the National Center for PTSD, and the IACP concur military and police agencies must be on the forefront regarding intervention, treatment, and symptoms Webster, 2008

Study Design Survey quantitative, cross sectional design All directional hypothesis will be tested at the .05 level with a two tailed , z-test (anticipated sample of 150 officers) Mean, Mode, frequency distribution, and standard error

Limitations Consent: agency, officers, and IRB Self reporting: memory, reluctance to disclose sensitive information, inability to self identity symptoms Participant knowledge or understanding of PTSD Fear of judgment, retaliation, or labeling by peers of agency Study should be replicated at similar agencies for reliability as well as those outside the metro area for comparison

Outcomes and Conclusion Study is significant and unique- it will provide regionally specific information Provides insight into the level and frequency of PTSD symptoms among officers. Explain relationships between an officer’s level of PTSD symptoms and life’s confounding variables (outside stressors)

Self Identification of Symptoms Related to PTSD and Potential Confounding Variables: A Quantitative Survey of Police Officers In a Southeastern Metropolitan Area Police Department Heather Jones, MS hjones24@student.gsu.edu CJAG Conference: 2014

Hypotheses An officer’s gender is not related to their level of self identified PTSD symptoms. An officer’s years of police service is related to their level of self identified PTSD symptoms An officer’s current marital status is related to their level of self identified PTSD symptoms Presence of divorce in an officer’s life is related to their level of self identified PTSD symptoms. The number of times an officer has been divorced is related to their level of self identified PTSD symptoms. Remaining divorce conflict is related to their level of self identified PTSD symptoms. Presence of dependents is related to an officer’s level of self identified PTSD symptoms. The number of dependents is related to an officer’s level of self identified PTSD symptoms. An officer’s departmental earnings are related to their level of self identified PTSD symptoms. An officer’s off-duty earnings are related to their level of self identified PTSD symptoms. Previous military service is related to an officer’s level of self identified PTSD symptoms Years of military service is related to an officer’s level of self identified PTSD symptoms. Current military service is related to an officer’s level of self identified PTSD symptoms.