Abstract
Due to the stressful nature of policing, police employees are at risk of mental health problems and problematic alcohol use. We aim to determine the prevalence of hazardous and harmful alcohol use in the UK Police Service, and to explore the associations with job strain and mental health problems. Cross-sectional data from the Airwave Health Monitoring Study (N = 40 986) included measures of alcohol consumption (total units in past week), mental health (depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder [PTSD]) and job strain. The associations between mental health and job strain with alcohol consumption (i.e. abstinence, low-risk [<14 units per week, reference group], hazardous [>14 to 35 units for women, >14 to 50 units for men], harmful [>35 units for women, >50 units for men]), were analysed using multinomial logistic regressions, adjusting for potential confounders (i.e. age, gender, ethnicity, marital status, children under 18, income and smoking status). A total of 32.6% of police employees reported hazardous drinking, with 3.0% drinking at harmful levels. Compared to those without a mental health problem, police employees with depression, anxiety or PTSD were twice as likely to be harmful drinkers and were also 1.3 times more likely to report abstinence. Those reporting low strain (reference group) were more likely to drink hazardously compared to those reporting high strain, which was statistically moderated by mental health. When the sample was stratified by mental health status, the association between low strain (compared to all other categories) and hazardous drinking, was significant only in those without a mental health problem. These findings indicate that police employees may be an occupational group at risk of alcohol harm, with one-third drinking hazardously. The J-shaped relationship between mental health and alcohol use highlights a need for an integration of mental health and alcohol services, tailored for the UK Police Service.
Highlights
Policing is a stressful occupation, characterised by operational stressors such as frequent exposure to traumatic incidents (Tuckey et al, 2012), and organisational stressors such as cuts to budgets, reducing officer numbers and increasing demands (Elliott-Davies, 2019); Allen and Audickas, 2020)
The current study aims to (i) determine the prevalence of hazardous and harmful alcohol use and frequent binge drinking in UK police employees; (ii) explore the associations between probable mental health and job strain, with alcohol use and (iii) examine whether the associations between job strain and alcohol use differ by the level of support or mental health status
Associations between mental health, job strain and alcohol use Compared to those without a mental health problem, police employees with probable depression and anxiety were 1.3 times as likely to abstain from alcohol, with a weak association between post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and abstinence (Table 3)
Summary
Policing is a stressful occupation, characterised by operational stressors such as frequent exposure to traumatic incidents (Tuckey et al, 2012), and organisational stressors such as cuts to budgets, reducing officer numbers and increasing demands (Elliott-Davies, 2019); Allen and Audickas, 2020). It is well established that UK military personnel have higher levels of alcohol problems compared to the general population (Fear et al, 2007), with high comorbidity with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (Head et al, 2016) and common mental disorders (Goodwin et al, 2017). The current study aims to (i) determine the prevalence of hazardous and harmful alcohol use and frequent binge drinking (six or more drinks on one occasion, at least twice a month) in UK police employees; (ii) explore the associations between probable mental health (i.e. depression, anxiety and PTSD) and job strain, with alcohol use and (iii) examine whether the associations between job strain and alcohol use differ by the level of support or mental health status.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
