The association between job quality and the incidence of PTSD amongst police personnel
Summary
Using responses from 12,248 serving officers within a larger 16,857-participant TJTL sample, the study links job quality dimensions (working time, social environment, work intensity, autonomy, meaningful work, job prospects/security, and physical environment) with ICD-11 PTSD and CPTSD measured by the International Trauma Questionnaire. Positive job quality (e.g., support from colleagues/managers, good work–life fit, autonomy, sense of meaningful work) is associated with halved CPTSD rates; negative job quality (e.g., sexual harassment, humiliating behaviours, tight deadlines, short-notice schedule changes) is associated with CPTSD rates up to 2 times the policing average. While causal direction cannot be proven with cross-sectional data, force-level analyses show forces with better working conditions have markedly lower PTSD/CPTSD prevalence.
Top finding: The strongest single predictor of CPTSD was reporting one could never rely on colleagues’ support (CPTSD 43.9% vs 7.0% when support was always available).
Why is it important?
Police Care UK supports officers and staff exposed to trauma. This research shows that improving job quality—especially peer/manager support, workload and time pressure, work–life fit, and zero tolerance of harassment—may substantially reduce PTSD/CPTSD prevalence and support performance, retention, and wellbeing.
Focus of research
- Question: How do job quality factors relate to PTSD/CPTSD among UK police?
- Scope: Eight job-quality domains adapted from Eurofound/Green model; ICD-11 PTSD/CPTSD via ITQ; analysis of officer subset from TJTL 2018.
Background
- UK police show high ICD-11 PTSD/CPTSD prevalence (~20%), with CPTSD exceeding PTSD.
- Prior research rarely linked working conditions to PTSD within high-trauma occupations; this paper addresses that gap in UK policing.
- The job quality framework covers: pay (not measured here), prospects, working hours, physical environment, social environment, intensity, skill/autonomy, and meaningful work.
- Earlier TJTL analyses showed policing lagged the UK workforce on most job-quality dimensions (except prospects/security).
- PTSD/CPTSD can impair functioning and cognition (e.g., situational awareness), affecting service delivery.
How research is/was conducted (Methodology)
Design: Cross-sectional analysis of TJTL (2018); web survey hosted by Police Care UK.
Sample: Final survey sample 16,857; current paper uses 12,248 serving officers (excludes some staff/volunteers).
Measures:
- PTSD/CPTSD: ICD-11 via International Trauma Questionnaire (ITQ) referencing respondents’ most troubling work-related event; diagnostic rules per ICD-11.
- Job quality: Selected items on working time & fit, social environment (support; adverse behaviours incl. abuse, threats, humiliation, sexual harassment), work intensity (tight deadlines; time to get job done), emotional demands (angry public), autonomy (apply own ideas; solve problems alone), prospects/security, meaningful work, physical exposure to infectious materials.
Analysis: Bivariate cross-tabulations and ordered logistic regression (three-level outcome: No PTSD / PTSD / CPTSD) with demographic controls; force-level aggregation for exploratory correlations.
Partners and Funding
- Authors/Institutions: Brendan Burchell (University of Cambridge), Jessica Miller (University of Cambridge), Chris Brewin (UCL), Magdalena Soffia (What Works for Wellbeing), Senhu Wang (National University of Singapore).
- Funding: Police Care UK (Open Access publication under CC BY 4.0).
Timeline
- Oct–Dec 2018: TJTL data collection.
- 2019–2022: Analysis and writing.
- 2022: Article published in Policing (OUP).
Results (headline findings)
- Baseline prevalence (officers): CPTSD 12.5%, PTSD 8.0%, No PTSD 79.5%.
- Working time & fit: Poor work–life fit (fits “Not at all well”) → 24.2% CPTSD; very good fit → 8.3%. Frequent long shifts (>10h) and nights show elevated CPTSD; flexible control (very easy to take 1–2 hours off) → 6.3% CPTSD vs 19.3% when very difficult.
- Social environment:
- Colleague support: Never rely → 43.9% CPTSD; Always → 7.0%.
- Manager support: Never rely → 28.4% CPTSD.
- Adverse behaviours: Humiliating behaviours (18.4% CPTSD); sexual harassment (22% CPTSD); angry public all the time (23.2% CPTSD).
- Work intensity: Tight deadlines all the time → 18.8% CPTSD; never enough time to get the job done → 22.1%.
- Autonomy & meaningful work:
- Apply own ideas “always” → 6.3% CPTSD vs 24.1% when “never”.
- Feeling of work well done and useful work show large protective associations (lowest groups 28–32% CPTSD vs 6% at highest).
- Solving unforeseen problems alone associated with higher CPTSD (likely proxy for single-crewing/first on scene).
- Physical environment: Frequent contact with infectious materials → 22.7% CPTSD vs 10% when almost never/never.
- Prospects & security: Poor advancement prospects → 25% CPTSD; perceived job insecurity (might lose job) → 33.2% CPTSD (interpretation cautious re: causality).
- Force-level differences: Across 18 forces with >300 respondents, PTSD+CPTSD ranged 13%–29%; higher prevalence correlates with greater work intensity, long shifts, sexual harassment, and lower manager support.
Additional resources linked to this research
- Open Access article (OUP): The association between job quality and the incidence of PTSD amongst police personnel (Policing, 2022).
- TJTL 2018 survey background and related publications (e.g., PTSD/CPTSD prevalence; PTEC checklist development using the same dataset).
