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Introduction Police officers are frequently exposed to potentially traumatic events at work that increases risk of developing mental health problems, in particular post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Individual and organisational factors may influence the detrimental effects of cumulative exposure to traumatic events. Occupational stress and lack of organisational support are associated with increased risk of PTSD among police officers. The Are You All right? (AYA) project is a prospective cohort study investigating the cumulative effect of traumatic events at work on mental health problems and absenteeism among police officers. The study also investigates whether potential risk and protective factors modify the association of traumatic events at work with mental health problems and absenteeism.Method and analysis The AYA-study includes the entire Danish police force. Prospective survey data are collected over a 3-year period beginning in the spring of 2021. Electronic surveys are sent out at baseline with 1-year, 2-year and 3-year follow-up. Further, short surveys are sent out every third month, covering exposure to traumatic events and current mental health status. The survey data are paired with workplace register data on sickness absence. Register data on sickness absence cover the period from 2020 to 2025.Ethics and dissemination This study was presented for evaluation at the National Ethics Committee in Denmark (reference number: 20202000-216), but according to Danish legislation, survey studies do not require approval by official Danish scientific or ethical committees. Participation in the project is based on informed consent, and data are handled in accordance with the Danish data legislation (journal number: 20/41457). Results are published in scientific journals and disseminated at international conferences.

This study examined the effect of workplace sexual harassment on posttraumatic stress (PTSD) symptoms while also examining the effect of harassment frequency, harassment source, and workplace social capital. The sample consisted of 3153 Danish social educators (females 79.3%) responding to the International Trauma Questionnaire (ITQ) and the Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire II item on sexual harassment (COPSOQ). The prevalence of sexual harassment was 22% exposed within the recent year. We found a significant positive relationship between exposure to workplace sexual harassment and PTSD symptoms. Harassment frequency was associated with significantly higher levels of PTSD symptoms. Harassment from a colleague/leader compared to a client was associated with higher levels of PTSD symptoms although the difference was not statistically significant. Workplace social capital had an inverted association with PTSD symptoms, but there was no moderation effect on the relationship between sexual harassment and PTSD. These findings suggest that higher harassment frequency and harassment from a colleague/leader is associated with an increased severity of PTSD symptoms following exposure to workplace sexual harassment. Workplace social capital seems to alleviate level of PTSD symptoms, but did not moderate the association between exposure to workplace sexual harassment and PTSD symptoms. Possibly, feelings of shame and guilt may discourage some employees from disclosing their experiences with colleagues or leaders and thereby seek available support at the workplace. Future studies need to uncover the barriers that prevent victims of sexual harassment from seeking and benefitting from social support available at the workplace.

Background: Despite knowledge about the extensive and often long-lasting consequences of sexual assault, many survivors remain underserved by formal support systems (e.g. medical, mental health and criminal justice systems). Reasons for underutilizing services are as diverse as the survivors themselves, and little is known about which survivors are most underserved and why they are underserved. Objective: To help organize existing findings on this topic, a systematic scoping review was conducted to identify adult survivors of sexual assault, who may be particularly underserved when attempting to obtain services in Western countries. Method: Five databases (PsycINFO, Embase, MEDLINE, Scopus and CINAHL) were systematically searched for studies published in English from 2000 onwards using terms such as ‘sexual assault’, ‘help seeking’, ‘formal support’, ‘barriers’ and variations thereof. Results: A total of 41 studies were included in the present scoping review, resulting in seven main categories of underserved survivors: Ethnic and cultural minorities, Disabilities, Financial vulnerability, Sexual and gender minorities, Mental health conditions, Problematic substance use, and Older age. Barriers encountered by survivors with these characteristics included limited access to formal supports and insufficient training and awareness among service providers about how to best support survivors. Conclusions: Recommendations include the need for more survivor-centred, culturally appropriate and trauma-informed services and more attention to survivors belonging to underserved groups in policy, practice and research.

Background: Fitness exercise is popular and associated with improved health and social status. Taken to extremes, however, exercise can become an addiction. One suggested symptom of exercise addiction is âconflictsâ with family and friends. However, it may be difficult to recognize excessive exercise patterns if they are accepted and encouraged by relatives. The aim of this study was to explore if fitness exercisers with a high risk of addiction experienced the same level of exercise support as exercisers with a low risk of addiction. Furthermore, we wanted to examine if social support affected the subjective reporting of âconflictsâ. Method: A total of 577 fitness exercisers completed the Exercise Addiction Inventory (EAI) and two questions asking about âexercise support from family and friendsâ and âpresent eating disorderâ. Results: Exercisers at high risk of exercise addiction reported the same level of support from relatives as those at low risk. Exercisers with high levels of exercise support reported significantly fewer conflicts, even if they were at high risk of addiction. If an eating disorder was present, the level of exercise support was significantly reduced. Conclusion: Exercise addiction might be difficult to identify with the general behavioral addiction symptom âconflictâ, since exercise is socially accepted even in subjects with high risk of exercise addiction. If an eating disorder is present, the exercise routines seem to be interpreted as socially undesirable. Screening for exercise addiction with the EAI should take into account that fitness exercisers rarely report conflicts, which could result in false negative cases.