How trauma coping self-efficacy relates to later posttraumatic stress symptoms in police officers

What is it about?

Police officers are repeatedly exposed to critical and potentially traumatic incidents at work. While many recover well, some develop posttraumatic stress symptoms over time. In this study, we examined whether trauma coping self-efficacy—officers’ confidence in their ability to cope with the aftermath of distressing incidents—and accumulated exposure to critical incidents were associated with posttraumatic stress symptoms 1 year later. We followed 2,954 police officers and found that higher trauma coping self-efficacy was associated with fewer posttraumatic stress symptoms 1 year later, whereas greater accumulated exposure was associated with more symptoms. The association between coping self-efficacy and later symptoms was stronger among officers with higher accumulated exposure. At the same time, officers with the highest exposure tended to report lower average coping self-efficacy.

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Photo by Max Fleischmann on Unsplash

Photo by Max Fleischmann on Unsplash

Why is it important?

Police work depends on people being able to function well despite repeated exposure to human suffering, danger, and loss. Understanding what may protect officers from posttraumatic stress symptoms is therefore important for employee health, long-term work ability, and the quality and safety of police work. It also matters because posttraumatic stress symptoms—and especially PTSD—can cause substantial suffering for officers and their close relatives. Our findings suggest that trauma coping self-efficacy may be a meaningful protective factor in a high-risk occupation where repeated exposure is part of the job. They also show that cumulative exposure may increase risk over time. These results point to two practical priorities for police organizations: monitoring cumulative exposure across careers and supporting officers’ confidence in coping with traumatic stress reactions.

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