The Relation Between Mindfulness and Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms Among Police Officers

• Published in: Journal of loss & trauma Vol. 18; no. 1; pp. 1 - 9
• Main Authors: Chopko, Brian A., Schwartz, Robert C.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Abingdon Taylor & Francis Group 01.01.2013; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: Avoidance; Awareness; Consciousness; Intrusion; Judgment; Judgments; Kentucky; law enforcement; Mental health; mindfulness; Police; Police officers; Post traumatic stress disorder; posttraumatic stress; Posttraumatic stress disorder; PTSD; Regression analysis; Skills; Stress; Symptoms; trauma; Treatment Methods; Validation studies
• ISSN: 1532-5024; 1532-5032
• DOI: 10.1080/15325024.2012.674442

Mindfulness-based treatments have been identified as potentially effective for reducing posttraumatic stress symptoms; however, the validity of research has been questioned, especially among first responders, due to ill-defined aspects of mindfulness. This study investigated the relationship between various dimensions of mindfulness (utilizing the Kentucky Inventory of Mindfulness Skills; KIMS) and posttraumatic stress symptoms (utilizing the Impact of Event Scale-Revised; IES-R) among active-duty police officers (N = 183). Multiple regression analyses showed that greater IES-R avoidance and intrusion subscale scores were predicted by lower KIMS accepting without judgment subscale scores. Greater IES-R hyperarousal subscale scores were predicted by lower KIMS accepting without judgment and describing subscale scores. Implications of these findings are discussed.