The Impact of Mindfulness Training on Police Officer Stress, Mental Health, and Salivary Cortisol Levels.

Autor:	Grupe DW; Center for Healthy Minds, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, United States., Stoller JL; Colorado School of Public Health, University of Colorado Denver, Aurora, CO, United States., Alonso C; Just Mindfulness, Madison, WI, United States., McGehee C; Center for Healthy Minds, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, United States.; Department of Athletics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, United States., Smith C; Academy for Mindfulness, Glendale, WI, United States., Mumford JA; Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United States., Rosenkranz MA; Center for Healthy Minds, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, United States.; Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, United States., Davidson RJ; Center for Healthy Minds, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, United States.; Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, United States.; Department of Psychiatry, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, United States.
Jazyk:	angličtina
Zdroj:	Frontiers in psychology [Front Psychol] 2021 Sep 03; Vol. 12, pp. 720753. Date of Electronic Publication: 2021 Sep 03 (Print Publication: 2021).
DOI:	10.3389/fpsyg.2021.720753
Abstrakt:	Unaddressed occupational stress and trauma contribute to elevated rates of mental illness and suicide in policing, and to violent and aggressive behavior that disproportionately impacts communities of color. Emerging evidence suggests mindfulness training with police may reduce stress and aggression and improve mental health, but there is limited evidence for changes in biological outcomes or the lasting benefits of mindfulness training. We conducted a randomized controlled trial (RCT) of 114 police officers from three Midwestern U.S. law enforcement agencies. We assessed stress-related physical and mental health symptoms, blood-based inflammatory markers, and hair and salivary cortisol. Participants were then randomized to an 8-week mindfulness intervention or waitlist control (WLC), and the same assessments were repeated post-intervention and at 3-month follow-up. Relative to waitlist control, the mindfulness group had greater improvements in psychological distress, mental health symptoms, and sleep quality post-training, gains that were maintained at 3-month follow-up. Intervention participants also had a significantly lower cortisol awakening response (CAR) at 3-month follow-up relative to waitlist control. Contrary to hypotheses, there were no intervention effects on hair cortisol, diurnal cortisol slope, or inflammatory markers. In summary, an 8-week mindfulness intervention for police officers led to self-reported improvements in distress, mental health, and sleep, and a lower CAR. These benefits persisted (or emerged) at 3-month follow-up, suggesting that this training may buffer against the long-term consequences of chronic stress. Future research should assess the persistence of these benefits over a longer period while expanding the scope of outcomes to consider the broader community of mindfulness training for police. Clinical Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov#NCT03488875. Competing Interests: RD is the founder, president, and serves on the board of directors for the non-profit organization, Healthy Minds Innovations, Inc. CS was employed by The Academy for Mindfulness, Glendale WI, at the time of this work. The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest. (Copyright © 2021 Grupe, Stoller, Alonso, McGehee, Smith, Mumford, Rosenkranz and Davidson.)
Databáze:	MEDLINE
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