Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) to enhance stress resilience in police recruits: A randomized control trial

Stress is a major issue for police. Officers face a range of stressors related to operational duties, such as exposure to violence and trauma, in addition to a range of organisational stressors. These stressors have been associated with a range of physical and psychological problems, in addition to low morale, absenteeism and increased turnover. They have also been found to impact negatively on an officer’s relationships with family members, friends and colleagues. The nature of police work means it is not possible to remove all stressors. However, it is possible for police organisations to help develop skills in officers that foster resilience, such that officers are better able to adapt, or bounce back from stress, without experiencing the negative consequences outlined above. Coping refers to thoughts and behaviours that individuals use to deal with stressors. While no single coping strategy has been found to be good or bad in all situations, coping flexibility, the ability to flexibly choose different strategies that fit the needs of the situation has been associated with positive adaptation (Folkman & Moskowitz, 2004). Studies have found that police have a tendency to use unhelpful, avoidant coping strategies to deal with difficult emotional experiences (Evans, Coman, Stanley, & Burrows, 1993), strategies such as emotional detachment and excessive use of alcohol (Richmond, Wodak, Kehoe, & Heather, 1998). Emotional detachment has been found to undermine the ability of officers to emotional engage and maintain healthy relationships and social networks (Madamba, 1986). Avoidant coping is socialised among new recruits when they are encouraged to take control of situations and not to let their emotions affect their work (Paton, et al., 2009). The primary objectives of the current study is to enhance resilience of police officers by providing training in coping flexibility skills and reducing the use of maladaptive coping skills. Experiential avoidance, the extent to which individuals: 1) are unwilling to stay in contact with aspects of their private experience; and 2) take steps to alter these experiences (Hayes, Strosahl, & Wilson, 1999) has been found to mediate the effects of maladaptive coping on psychological distress and wellbeing (Fledderus, Bohlmeijer, & Pieterse, 2010) and make people more vulnerable to a range of stressors (Biglan, Hayes, & Pistorello, 2008). As Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) aims to reduce experiential avoidance, it is thought to be particularly beneficial for preventing severe psychological distress. Furthermore, by enabling officers to persist with valued actions in the face of adversity, ACT is also likely to lift performance and wellbeing. A range of workplace stress management studies have been conducted using ACT. The current study aims to extend the research of Bilich and Ciarrochi (2009) who conducted a trial of group based acceptance and commitment therapy for senior police officers. The transition from training to active policing environment is a particularly stressful period for new recruits. The current intervention is designed to provide coping skills training to police recruits just before they make the transition to operational duties, and before maladaptive coping strategies have been socialised. Measures of mental health, sick leave and coping strategy use will be used to assess the effectiveness of the training, the sustainability of that effect and measures such as the AAQ, the VLQ and the MAAS will be used to assess mechanisms of change.