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. 2015;5(2):10.1177/2158244015590446.
doi: 10.1177/2158244015590446.

Applying Resilience Promotion Training Among Special Forces Police Officers

Judith P Andersen  1 , Konstantinos Papazoglou  1 , Mari Koskelainen  2 , Markku Nyman  2 , Harri Gustafsberg  2 , Bengt B Arnetz  3
Affiliations

Applying Resilience Promotion Training Among Special Forces Police Officers

Judith P Andersen et al. Sage Open. 2015.

Abstract

Police Special Forces (a.k.a. special weapons and tactics [SWAT]) officers are tasked with responding to the most critical situations, including incidents that require specialized skills and equipment beyond typical policing activities. In this study, we tested the feasibility of applying Arnetz and colleagues' resilience promotion training that was developed for patrol officers to SWAT team officers (n = 18). The resilience promotion training program included psychoeducation focused on police stress and resilience, and the practice of resilience promotion techniques (controlled breathing and imagery) while listening to audio-recorded critical incident scenarios. The aims of this study were to (a) examine if a resilience training program was relevant and accepted by SWAT team officers and (b) assess participants' physiological stress responses (heart rate, respiration) during the resilience training sessions to note if there were improvements in stress responding over time. Our findings revealed that participants were able to significantly reduce their average heart rate and improve their ability to engage in controlled respiration (i.e., breathing) during simulated critical incidents over the course of the 5-day training. Improvements in stress responding were observed even when the critical incident scenarios became more graphic. Results suggest that an intervention to reduce stress responses of SWAT officers to critical incident scenarios works in a simulated training setting. Translation of these findings to real-world occupational hazards is a recommended next step.

Keywords: critical incidents; physiological reactivity; police special forces; resilience promotion.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Heart rate mean (HRmean) over resilience training.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Heart rate maximum (HRmax) over resilience training.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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