Two faces of police stress: Spanish validation of operational and organizational PSQ scales

Rubiol Vilalta, S, Moreno, AF, Hill, R ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2938-8825 and Oliveira-Silva, P, 2026. Two faces of police stress: Spanish validation of operational and organizational PSQ scales. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 17: 1805061. ISSN 1664-0640

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Abstract

Introduction: Police officers face multiple psychosocial risks stemming from operational and organizational aspects of their work. The Police Stress Questionnaire (PSQ) includes operational (PSQ-Op) and organizational (PSQ-Org) versions to assess these stressors. This study aimed to validate both versions in a sample of Mossos d’Esquadra, examining their factorial structure, reliability, and convergent and discriminant validity.

Methods: Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were conducted to examine the internal structure of the PSQ-Op and PSQ-Org. Internal consistency was evaluated using reliability indices. Convergent and discriminant validity were assessed through correlations with measures of anxiety, depression, and coping strategies.

Results: Both PSQ-Op and PSQ-Org showed an essentially unidimensional structure, indicating that each scale measures a coherent latent construct. Operational and organizational stress remained distinct domains. Both scales exhibited high reliability and adequate psychometric properties. Subtle gender differences were noted in the perception of specific stressors.

Discussion: These findings support the validity and reliability of the PSQ-Op and PSQ-Org for assessing psychosocial risks among Spanish police officers. The scales can inform interventions targeting workplace stress prevention and the promotion of organizational well-being, emphasizing the need to address operational and organizational stressors separately.

Item Type:	Journal article
Publication Title:	Frontiers in Psychiatry
Creators:	Rubiol Vilalta, S., Moreno, A.F., Hill, R. and Oliveira-Silva, P.
Publisher:	Frontiers Media SA
Date:	16 April 2026
Volume:	17
ISSN:	1664-0640
Identifiers:	Number Type 10.3389/fpsyt.2026.1805061 DOI 2608418 Other
Rights:	© 2026 Rubiol Vilalta, Moreno, Hill and Oliveira-Silva. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
Divisions:	Schools > School of Social Sciences
Record created by:	Melissa Cornwell
Date Added:	17 Apr 2026 10:05
Last Modified:	17 Apr 2026 10:05
URI:	https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/55562

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