Does mindfulness training help police officers manage stress and health?
Tailored mindfulness training significantly reduced mental distress and improved sleep in police officers, although most physiological measures of stress remained unchanged.
Source
The Impact of Mindfulness Training on Police Officer Stress, Mental Health, and Salivary Cortisol Levels
What they did
Researchers conducted a randomized controlled trial with 114 police officers split into an eight-week mindfulness course or a waitlist control group. The study measured self-reported mental health, sleep, and physical symptoms at baseline, immediately post-training, and three months later. They also analyzed physiological stress markers, including salivary cortisol collected over three consecutive days, hair cortisol, and blood inflammatory levels.
What they found
The mindfulness group showed significant reductions in psychological distress both immediately after the training, with an effect size of negative zero point four five, and at the three-month follow-up, with an effect size of negative zero point four one. Additionally, subjective sleep quality improved significantly by the three-month follow-up, with an effect size of negative zero point four four. There were no meaningful improvements in pain, physical health, occupational stress, or inflammatory blood markers.
The limits
What it doesn't show
The study does not show if these training benefits translate to better real-world interactions or safer policing in marginalized communities. The mindfulness group was also descriptively less healthy than the control group at the start, which could bias findings despite statistical adjustments. Furthermore, physiological results were largely mixed, with no significant differences observed in inflammatory markers, hair cortisol, or diurnal cortisol slope after the three-month period.
Key terms
- Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis
- A complex feedback loop of hormone production between the brain and adrenal glands that regulates the body's response to stress.
- Cortisol awakening response (CAR)
- A natural increase in cortisol levels that occurs shortly after waking to help prepare the body for the upcoming day's demands.
- Randomized controlled trial (RCT)
- A study design where participants are randomly assigned to either an experimental intervention group or a control group to isolate the treatment's effect.
- Dried blood spots (DBS)
- A biological sampling method where a small amount of blood is blotted and dried on filter paper for laboratory analysis.
- Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR)
- A structured, evidence-based program that uses intensive mindfulness training to help individuals manage stress, anxiety, and pain.
- C-reactive protein (CRP)
- A blood protein that serves as a key biomarker for systemic inflammation in the body.
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Quiz yourself
What was the primary objective of this randomized controlled trial on police officers?
Common questions
Did the mindfulness training improve the officers' physical health?
No, the researchers found no significant differences between the mindfulness group and the control group in terms of physical health, pain, or occupational stress.
How did the study measure physiological stress?
The researchers analyzed salivary cortisol over three consecutive days, measured long-term cortisol in hair samples, and collected dried blood spots to test for inflammatory markers.
Did the training immediately improve officers' sleep?
While subjective sleep quality improved significantly by the three-month follow-up, the difference between the groups was not statistically significant immediately after the training ended.
How long did the training program last?
The program was an eight-week training course that included weekly two-hour classes and a longer four-hour class during week 7.
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