Risk factors for posttrauma reactions in police officers: A longitudinal study

This prospective, longitudinal study investigated risk factors in the devel opment of psychological ill health and posttraumatic stress symptoms in a s ample of 223 junior police officers. Participants were assessed using a sel f-report methodology during training and again 12 months later on a range o f personality, trauma exposure, and symptom measures. Risk factors for gene ral psychological ill health at phase 2 of the research were found to compr ise mostly stable, preexisting characteristics such as personality style, g ender, and trait dissociation. Conversely, specific traumatic stress sympto ms were more heavily influenced by experiences in the intervening 12 months , such as severity of incident exposure and peritraumatic dissociation. The implications for differential intervention are discussed.