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Police officers are frequently faced with chronic and acute stressors, such as excessive workload, organizational stressors and emotionally charged reports. This study aims to examine the relationship between a form of chronic strain (ie, burnout symptoms) and a resource (ie, coping self-efficacy) in a sample of Dutch police officers. Specifically, we aim to investigate the existence of a loss cycle of resources. We use Latent Change Score modeling to investigate the potential depletion or loss cycle of coping self-efficacy as a result of burnout symptoms in a sample of 95 police officers who completed a survey on three consecutive timepoints. The lag between the measurements was approximately one year. We found that, during both one-year intervals, within-person increases in burnout symptoms were related to within-person decreases in coping self-efficacy. Also, the results emphasize the buffering role of coping self-efficacy for burnout symptoms, as within-person decreases in coping self-efficacy during the first year were associated with within-person increases in burnout symptoms during the following year. Together, the results imply that a loss cycle of coping self-efficacy and burnout symptoms may occur. For this we used Latent Change Score modeling, which is a relatively new approach which provides researchers with the opportunity to analyse multi-wave longitudinal data while focusing on within-person changes over time. Practically, police organizations are advised to monitor personnel wellbeing and resources, to maintain and promote sustainable employability of police officers and to be able to timely provide individuals with interventions. Limitations discussed are the use of self-report measures and large intervals between the measurements. Finally, future directions of research are discussed that would circumvent the reported limitations, such as multiple wave with shorter lags and incorporating confounding factors that could affect coping self-efficacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effects of stress may be alleviated when its impact or a decreased stress-resilience are detected early. This study explores whether wearable-measured sleep and resting HRV in police officers can be predicted by stress-related Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) measures in preceding days and predict stress-related EMA outcomes in subsequent days. Eight police officers used an Oura ring to collect daily Total Sleep Time (TST) and resting Heart Rate Variability (HRV) and an EMA app for measuring demands, stress, mental exhaustion, and vigor during 15–55 weeks. Vector Autoregression (VAR) models were created and complemented by Granger causation tests and Impulse Response Function visualizations. Demands negatively predicted TST and HRV in one participant. TST negatively predicted demands, stress, and mental exhaustion in two, three, and five participants, respectively, and positively predicted vigor in five participants. HRV negatively predicted demands in two participants, and stress and mental exhaustion in one participant. Changes in HRV lasted longer than those in TST. Bidirectional associations of TST and resting HRV with stress-related outcomes were observed at a weak-to-moderate strength, but not consistently across participants. TST and resting HRV are more consistent predictors of stress-resilience in upcoming days than indicators of stress-related measures in prior days. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In dit onderzoek staat de vraag centraal hoe het gebruik van tien verschillende beïnvloedingsstrategieën de uitkomst van crisisonderhandelingen beïnvloedt en in hoeverre de effectiviteit van die strategieën afhankelijk is van het soort incident en de fase van de onderhandeling waarin ze worden gebruikt. Daarvoor werden van de transcripten van negen (zachte) gijzelingsonderhandelingen en 26 (harde) ontvoerings- en afpersingsonderhandelingen de spreekbeurten gecodeerd in termen van de Tafel van Tien (Giebels, ). De gebruikte beïnvloedingsstrategieën werden gerelateerd aan de effectiviteit van de uitkomst van de onderhandeling. De conclusies zijn dat in de aanvangsfase strategieën gericht op kalmering van de dader samenhangen met de effectiviteit van de onderhandeling. In de probleemoplossingsfase van zachte onderhandelingen is aandacht voor de relatie tussen onderhandelaar en dader belangrijk. Voor harde onderhandelingen werden geen resultaten gevonden in de probleemoplossingsfase. In de besluitfase blijkt het voorzien van de dader van expliciete instructies samen te hangen met de effectiviteit van de onderhandeling. Bij de bespreking van de resultaten wordt speciale aandacht besteed aan de factor tijd en aan het belang van een goede verstandhouding (‘rapport’) tussen dader en onderhandelaar. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Wearable sensor technologies, often referred to as "wearables," have seen a rapid rise in consumer interest in recent years. Initially often seen as "activity trackers," wearables have gradually expanded to also estimate sleep, stress, and physiological recovery. In occupational settings, there is a growing interest in applying this technology to promote health and well-being, especially in professions with highly demanding working conditions such as first responders. However, it is not clear to what extent self-monitoring with wearables can positively influence stress- and well-being-related outcomes in real-life conditions and how wearable-based interventions should be designed for high-risk professionals., Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate (1) whether offering a 5-week wearable-based intervention improves stress- and well-being-related outcomes in police officers and (2) whether extending a basic "off-the-shelf" wearable-based intervention with ecological momentary assessment (EMA) questionnaires, weekly personalized feedback reports, and peer support groups improves its effectiveness., Methods: A total of 95 police officers from 5 offices participated in the study. The data of 79 participants were included for analysis. During the first 5 weeks, participants used no self-monitoring technology (control period). During the following 5 weeks (intervention period), 41 participants used a Garmin Forerunner 255 smartwatch with a custom-built app (comparable to that of the consumer-available wearable), whereas the other 38 participants used the same system, but complemented by daily EMA questionnaires, weekly personalized feedback reports, and access to peer support groups. At baseline (T0) and after the control (T1) and intervention (T2) periods, questionnaires were administered to measure 15 outcomes relating to stress awareness, stress management self-efficacy, and outcomes related to stress and general well-being. Linear mixed models that accounted for repeated measures within subjects, the control and intervention periods, and between-group differences were used to address both research questions., Results: The results of the first analysis showed that the intervention had a small (absolute Hedges g=0.25-0.46) but consistent effect on 8 of 15 of the stress- and well-being-related outcomes in comparison to the control group. The second analysis provided mixed results; the extended intervention was more effective than the basic intervention at improving recovery after work but less effective at improving self-efficacy in behavior change and sleep issues, and similarly effective in the remaining 12 outcomes., Conclusions: Offering a 5-week wearable-based intervention to police officers can positively contribute to optimizing their stress-related, self-efficacy, and well-being-related outcomes. Complementing the basic "off-the-shelf" wearable-based intervention with additional EMA questionnaires, weekly personalized feedback reports, and peer support groups did not appear to improve the effectiveness of the intervention. Future work is needed to investigate how different aspects of these interventions can be tailored to specific characteristics and needs of employees to optimize these effects., (© Herman Jaap de Vries, Roos Delahaij, Marianne van Zwieten, Helen Verhoef, Wim Kamphuis. Originally published in JMIR mHealth and uHealth (https://mhealth.jmir.org).)