Coping under pressure: police-specific stressors and mental health in Catalonia police forces

Moreno, AF ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1377-2360, Oliveira-Silva, P, Hill, R ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2938-8825 and Rubiol Vilalta, S, 2026. Coping under pressure: police-specific stressors and mental health in Catalonia police forces. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 17: 1800257. ISSN 1664-0640

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Abstract

Introduction: Police officers are exposed to elevated psychological risks due to both operational and organizational stressors. Additionally, police officers tend to resort to avoidant coping strategies, which exacerbate poor mental health outcomes, such as burnout and PTSD.

Methods: This study aims to examine clinical symptoms (stress, anxiety, depression), coping styles, and perceived stressors among police forces from Catalonia, Spain. A total of 741 officers completed an online survey comprising DASS-21, PSQ-Op, PSQ-Org, Brief COPE and brief open-ended questions.

Results: Overall, both operational and organizational stressors were significant predictors of clinical symptoms, with the latter revealing a more pronounced impact. Avoidant coping emerged as the strongest risk factor for distress, while problem-focused coping emerged as a possible protective factor, especially against depression. Both gender and years of service influenced coping strategies: i) female officers reported higher use of adaptive coping, while male officers scored higher in avoidant coping; and ii) more experienced officers reported lower anxiety symptoms but also lower use of active coping strategies.

Discussion: These findings underscore the importance of addressing both organizational culture and individual-level factors in promoting psychological resilience, while considering gender and career stage to support sustainable mental health within police forces.

Item Type:	Journal article
Publication Title:	Frontiers in Psychiatry
Creators:	Moreno, A.F., Oliveira-Silva, P., Hill, R. and Rubiol Vilalta, S.
Publisher:	Frontiers Media SA
Date:	21 April 2026
Volume:	17
ISSN:	1664-0640
Identifiers:	Number Type 10.3389/fpsyt.2026.1800257 DOI 2681493 Other
Rights:	© 2026 Moreno, Oliveira-Silva, Hill and Rubiol Vilalta. 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:	Jonathan Gallacher
Date Added:	29 Apr 2026 15:24
Last Modified:	29 Apr 2026 15:24
URI:	https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/55627

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