Abstract
BackgroundPolice officers experience a high degree of chronic stress. Policing ranks among the highest professions in terms of disease and accident rates. Mental health is particularly impacted, evidenced by elevated rates of burnout, anxiety and depression, and poorer quality of life than the general public. Mindfulness training has been shown to reduce stress, anxiety, burnout and promote quality of life in a variety of settings, although its efficacy in this context has yet to be systematically evaluated. Therefore, this trial will investigate the efficacy of a mindfulness-based intervention versus a waitlist control in improving quality of life and reducing negative mental health symptoms in police officers.MethodsThis multicenter randomized controlled trial has three assessment points: baseline, post-intervention, and six-month follow-up. Active police officers (n = 160) will be randomized to Mindfulness-Based Health Promotion (MBHP) or waitlist control group at two Brazilian major cities: Porto Alegre and São Paulo. The primary outcomes are burnout symptoms and quality of life. Consistent with the MBHP conceptual model, assessed secondary outcomes include perceived stress, anxiety and depression symptoms, and the potential mechanisms of resilience, mindfulness, decentering, self-compassion, spirituality, and religiosity.DiscussionFindings from this study will inform and guide future research, practice, and policy regarding police offer health and quality of life in Brazil and globally.Trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov NCT03114605. Retrospectively registered on March 21, 2017.
Highlights
Police officers experience a high degree of chronic stress
Mindfulness-Based Intervention (MBI) studies among police officers are limited; a pre-post study suggests that mindfulness training can reduce stress and burnout symptoms [38], and findings from a recent Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) indicate that relative to waitlist control, MBI participants experienced greater reductions in salivary cortisol (AUCi), self-reported aggression, burnout, alcohol use, sleep disturbance, and increases in psychological flexibility and non-reactivity at post-training [39]
We aim to investigate the feasibility and acceptability of an 8-week, 2-h long MBI on this particular setting
Summary
Study design The POLICE study is a multicenter, parallel, two-armed, RCT with 3 assessment points (baseline, post-intervention, and six-month follow-up). Participants will be randomized to MBI or a waiting list control group. Due to the nature of the intervention, this will be a single-blind study, in which the outcomes assessment will be blind, but participants will be aware of their group assignment. Both have been certified by Mente Aberta - Brazilian Center for Mindfulness and Health Promotion to teach mindfulness courses. MBHP was designed to address human universal vulnerabilities, not focusing in any specific health condition It has been applied over the last years by Mente Aberta - Brazilian Center for Mindfulness and Health Promotion [48], and by the University of Zaragoza, in Spain [49].
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