Citation

McCanlies EC, Mnatsakanova A, Andrew ME, Burchfiel CM, Violanti JM. Stress Health 2014; 30(5): 405-415.

Affiliation

Biostatistics and Epidemiology Branch, Health Effects Laboratory Division, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Morgantown, WV, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2014, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1002/smi.2615

PMID

25476965

Abstract

Following Hurricane Katrina, police officers in the New Orleans geographic area faced a number of challenges. This cross-sectional study examined the association between resilience, satisfaction with life, gratitude, posttraumatic growth, and symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder in 84 male and 30 female police officers from Louisiana. Protective factors were measured using the Connor-Davidson Resilience scale, Satisfaction with Life Scale, the Gratitude Questionnaire, and the Posttraumatic Growth inventory. Symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder were measured using the Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist-Civilian (PCL-C). Potential associations were measured using linear regression and analysis of variance. Models were adjusted for age, sex, race, education, and alcohol. Mean PCL-C symptoms were 29.5 ± 14.5 for females and 27.8 ± 12.1 for males. Adjusted mean levels of PCL-C symptoms significantly decreased as quartiles of resilience (p < .001), satisfaction with life (p < .001), and gratitude (p < .001) increased. In contrast, PCL-C symptoms were not associated with posttraumatic growth in this sample. These results indicate that positive factors such as resilience, satisfaction with life, and gratitude may help mitigate symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder. To further explore these relationships, longitudinal follow-up in a larger population would be of interest. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Language: en