Police Officers’ Attitudes, Intentions, and Stereotyping Towards Mental Health Help Seeking Behaviors

TL;DR

This study examines police officers' attitudes and intentions towards mental health help-seeking and finds positive trends, but questions whether education or selection bias is responsible.

Contribution

The study provides new insights into the relationship between mental health education, distress levels, and help-seeking behaviors among police officers.

Findings

Older officers reported higher mental distress levels.

Gender differences were found in help-seeking attitudes, intentions, and stereotyping.

More experienced officers reported higher mental distress.

Abstract

Police officers have been known to have decreased willingness to seek mental health help. Increasing focus has been placed on enhancing the officer’s mental wellbeing but has this improved the officer’s help-seeking behavior?

This cross-sectional quantitative study evaluated officers’ mental health help-seeking attitudes, intentions, and stereotyping of others seeking help using mental distress levels. Data was collected from 337 officers across 22 states.

Statistical significance was found in 1) age and mental distress, 2) gender on help-seeking attitudes, intentions, and stereotyping, and 3) experience and mental distress. Officers reported more positive help-seeking attitudes, intentions, and stereotyping.

This study supported and contradicted past studies regarding these variables. Officers within this study reported increased officer help-seeking behaviors and less mental distress. Is increased mental health education helping to improve officer help-seeking behaviors, or are officers with lower mental distress willing to participate in mental health research versus those with high mental distress resulting in skewed overall results?