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. 2018 Sep;33(3):227-232.
doi: 10.1007/s11896-017-9246-9. Epub 2017 Dec 13.

DISPOSITIONAL MINDFULNESS MODERATES THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN OCCUPATIONAL STRESSORS AND PERCEIVED STRESS AMONG LAW ENFORCEMENT PERSONNEL

Joshua Benjamin Kaplan  1 , Michael Christopher  1 , Sarah Bowen  1
Affiliations

DISPOSITIONAL MINDFULNESS MODERATES THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN OCCUPATIONAL STRESSORS AND PERCEIVED STRESS AMONG LAW ENFORCEMENT PERSONNEL

Joshua Benjamin Kaplan et al. J Police Crim Psychol. 2018 Sep.

Abstract

Law enforcement personnel (LEPs) experience occupational stressors that can result in poor health outcomes and have a negative impact on the communities they serve. Dispositional mindfulness, or receptive awareness and attention to present moment experience, has been shown to negatively predict perceived stress and to moderate the relationship between stressors and negative stress-related outcomes. The current study is an investigation of the moderating role of specific facets of dispositional mindfulness (i.e., nonreactivity, nonjudging, and acting with awareness) in the relationship between occupational stressors and perceived stress in a sample of LEPs. As hypothesized, nonreactivity significantly moderated the relationship between operational stressors and perceived stress, such that LEPs low in nonreactivity exhibited a significant relationship between stressors and perceived stress, whereas those high in nonreactivity did not. Nonjudging also moderated the relationship between organizational stressors and perceived stress; however, unexpectedly, LEPs high in nonjudging evidenced a significant relationship between stressors and perceived stress, whereas those low in nonjudging did not. Potential implications of these findings for LEP stress reduction interventions are discussed.

Keywords: mindfulness; perceived stress; police.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.. Simple Slopes of Operational Stress (PSQ-Op) in the prediction of Perceived Stress (PSS) at low (−1 SD), medium (Mean), and high (+1 SD) values of Nonreactivity.
Note: PSS = Perceived Stress Scale, PSQ-OP = Police Stress Questionnaire: Operational subscale, FFMQ = Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire
Figure 2.
Figure 2.. Simple Slopes of Organizational Stress (PSQ-Org) in the prediction of Perceived Stress (PSS) at low (−1 SD), medium (Mean), and high (+1 SD) values of Nonjudging.
Note: PSS = Perceived Stress Scale, PSQ-Org = Police Stress Questionnaire: Organizational subscale, FFMQ = Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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