COPING WITH THE OCCUPATIONAL STRESSORS OF POLICE WORK: A STUDY OF SCOTTISH OFFICERS

Abstract

The Coping Scale of the Occupational Stress Indicator (OSI)16 was administered to a group of serving Scottish police officers (N=699) in order to examine the coping skills they might employ in dealing with routine police work. Differences in coping style according to age, gender and rank were observed. Overall, a preference for more problem-focused, direct action coping strategies was apparent. In particular, officers displayed a preference for balancing the demands of work and home as a means of coping with the self-perceived stressors of routine police work. No significant correlation was found between the OSI coping scales and psychological distress as measured by the GHQ-28; however, some small effects were apparent in relation to rank, gender and age. © 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.