Stressful life events and posttraumatic growth among police officers: A cross ‐sectional study

This study investigated the development of PTG among 113 police officers working in the New Orleans area following Hurricane Katrina. Hierarchical regression was used to evaluate if gratitude, social support, and satisfaction with life moderated the relationship between stressful life events (as measured by the total life stress score) and PTG, after adjustment for age, sex, race, level of involvement in Hurricane Katrina, and alcohol intake. Results indicate that stressful life events are independently associated with PTG. Gratitude, satisfaction with life, and social support were seen to moderate this relationship; as stressful life events increased so too did PTG—particularly among officers with higher levels of gratitude (B = 0.002, p ≤ .05), satisfaction with life (B = 0.002, p ≤ .05), and social support (B = 0.001, p ≤ .05). These findings suggest that promoting satisfaction with life, interpersonal support, and gratitude may be beneficial to those who are regularly at risk of trauma exposure.

Source: Stress and Health - April 1, 2017 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Monica Leppma, Anna Mnatsakanova, Khachatur Sarkisian, Olivia Scott, Leonie Adjeroh, Michael E. Andrew, John M. Violanti, Erin C. McCanlies Tags: RESEARCH ARTICLE Source Type: research