Do police experience trauma during routine work? An analysis of work-related potentially traumatic events and expressed trauma in a sample of Ghanaian police officers

Abstract

Existing research associates police work with stress and mental health challenges due to routine exposure to potentially traumatic incidents. Low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) are under-represented in this literature. In this study, we explored the relationship between work related potentially traumatic events and expressed trauma symptoms in a sample of 121 Ghanaian police officers. Ninety-seven (97) male and 24 female police officers participated in a semi-structured interview about on-the-job potentially traumatic events and completed a self-report measure of trauma symptoms. Overall, 71.9% of officers were exposed to at least one work-related PTE and 61.2% of officers endorsed at least one trauma. We found that dealing with traffic accidents, assaults and observing autopsy are the top critical incidents. We also found that observing autopsy and officer rank were predictive of expressed trauma. We discuss the findings within the context of a need to examine effects of potentially traumatic events on work and implications for mental health.