U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government, Department of Justice.

NCJRS Virtual Library

The Virtual Library houses over 235,000 criminal justice resources, including all known OJP works.
Click here to search the NCJRS Virtual Library

Perceived Stress Levels and Physical Symptoms in Supervisory Law Enforcement Personnel

NCJ Number
115919
Journal
Journal of Police Science and Administration Volume: 16 Issue: 2 Dated: (June 1988) Pages: 75-79
Author(s)
N Norvell; D Belles; H Hills
Date Published
1988
Length
5 pages
Annotation
The relationship between symptoms of physical illness and perceived stress and job satisfaction was investigated in 139 mid-level supervisory personnel employed by a large State law enforcement agency.
Abstract
While 16 percent of subjects had been diagnosed as hypertensive, 33 percent showed elevated blood pressure during a screen. Subjects showed normative scores on perceived stress and on satisfaction with work and supervisors, but scored below normal on satisfaction with pay, coworkers, and promotional possibilities. As expected, perceived stress was significantly correlated with self-reported physical symptoms and job dissatisfaction. Of job satisfaction factors, only satisfaction with pay failed to show a significant relationship to physical symptoms. The best model for predicting physical symptoms was a two variable model containing perceived stress and dissatisfaction with work. Results suggest that appraised stress may be an etiological factor in behavioral disorders or disease, and that stress management programs may need to concentrate on interventions to ameliorate this cognitive appraisal. 2 tables and 30 references.