Journal of Organization and Human Behaviour

Open Access Open Access  Restricted Access Subscription Access
Open Access Open Access Open Access  Restricted Access Restricted Access Subscription Access

Predictors of Suicidal Ideation among Police Personnel


Affiliations
1 Dept. of Psychology, Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra, Haryana, India
2 Dept. of Psychology, M.D. University, Rohtak, Haryana, India
     

   Subscribe/Renew Journal


Suicidal ideation is the first warning sign of more serious suicidal behavior. Suicide ideation constitutes but one aspect of suicidal behavior, and is defined as the domain of thoughts and ideas about death, suicide, and serious self-injurious behavior. The present investigation was planned to study predictors of suicidal ideation among police personal. The sample for the study consisted of 202 police personnel (head constable=125, inspector=77) who aged between 24 and 58 years. The subjects were assessed with Neo-Five Factor Inventory, Scale for Suicide Ideation, Occupational Stress Index, and Ways of Coping Questionnaire. Data were processed by correlation and regression analysis. The results revealed that suicidal ideation is significantly associated with personality, occupational stress, and coping among police personal. Step-wise regression analysis identified three predictors of suicidal ideation, i.e., unreasonable group and political pressures, positive reappraisal, and escape avoidance. The results of step-wise regression analysis revealed that the linear combination of unreasonable group and political pressures, positive reappraisal, and escape avoidance account for significant proportion of variance (15%) in suicidal ideation among police personnel.

Keywords

Suicidal Ideation, Personality, Occupational Stress, Coping
Subscription Login to verify subscription
User
Notifications
Font Size

  • Antoniou, A. S., Polychroui, F., & Vlachakis, A. N. (2006). Gender and Age Differences in Occupational Stress and Professional Burnout between Primary and High School Teachers in Greece. Journal of Managerial Psychology 21, pp. 682-690.

  • Ashcraft, D. M. (1992). Health in Work Place in Kelley, K. Issues, Theory and Research in Industrial/Organizational Psychology. (pp. 295-283). Amsterdam: Elsevier Science Publication.

  • Beck, A. T., Kovacs, M., & Weissman, A. (1979). Assessment of Suicidal Intention: The Scale for Suicidal Ideation. Journal of Consulting Clinical Psychology, 47, pp. 343-352.

  • Brezo, J., Paris, J., & Turecki, G. (2006). Personality Traits as Correlates of Suicidal Ideation. A Systematic Review: Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 113, pp. 180-206.

  • Burke, R. J., & Green, G. E. (1994). A Longitudinal Study of Psychological Burnout in Teachers. Human Relations, 47, pp. 1-15.

  • Costa, P. T., & Mccare, R. R. (1992). Professional Manual: NEO-Five Factor Inventory. Odessa, Florida: Psychological Assessment Resources, Inc.

  • Edwards, M. J., & Holden, R. R. (2001). Coping, Meaning in Life and Suicidal Manifestations: Examining Gender differences. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 57, pp. 1517-1543.

  • Enns, M. W., Cox, B. J., & Beauregard, I. M. (2003). Personality Predictors of Outcomes for Adolescents Hospitalized for Suicidal Ideation. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 42, pp. 720-727.

  • Fergusson, D. M., Woodward, l. J., & Horwood, l .J. (2000). Risk Factors and Life Processes Associated with The Onset of Suicidal Behaviour during Adolescence and Early Adulthood. Psychological Medicine, 30, pp. 23-29.

  • Folkman, S. & Lazarus, R. S. (1998). Ways of Coping Questionnaire Manual. California, USA: Consulting Psychological Press, Inc.

  • Fornbonne, E. (1995). Depressive Disorder: Time Trends and Possible Explanatory Mechanisms, In M. Rutter and D. J. Smith (eds.). Psychological Disorder in Young People: Time Trends and Their Causes. Chichster: Wiley.

  • Gershon, R. R. M., Lin, S., & Li, X. (2002). Occupational Stress in Aging Police Officers. Journal of the Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 44(2), pp. 160-167.

  • Guthrie, R. (2006). Teachers and Stress. Australia & New Zealand Journal of Law & Education, 11(1), pp. 5-18.

  • Heisel, M. J., Duberstein, P. R. Conner, K. R. F. N., & Bechman, C. (2006). Personality & Reports of Suicide Ideation among Deforested Adults 50 Years Age or older. Affect Disorder, 90, pp. 175-180.

  • Hem, E . Berg, A. M., & Ekeberg, O. (2004). Suicide in Police - A Critical Review. Suicide Life Threatening Behaviour, 31, pp. 224-233.

  • Kerby, D. S. (2003). CART Analysis with Unit-Weighted Regression to Predict Suicidal Ideation from Big Five Traits. Personality & Individual Difference, 35, pp. 249-261.

  • Klerman, G. L. (1988). The Current Age of Youthful Melancholia: Evidence for Increase in Depression in Adolescent and Young Adult. British Journal of Psychiatry, 152, pp. 4-14.

  • Koch, B. J. (2006). The Psychological Impact on Policy Officers of Being first Responders on the Scene of a Competed Suicide & How They Mediate this Experience. Humanities & Social Sciences, 66, pp. 2723.

  • Kotler, M., Finkelstein, G., Molcho, A., & Botsis, A. J. (1993). Correlates of Suicide and Violence Risk in an Inpatient Population. Psychiatry Research, 47(3), pp. 281-290.

  • Kyriacou, C. (2001). Teacher Stress directions for Future Research. Educational Review, 53, pp. 27-35.

  • Lazarus, R. S. & Folkman, S. (1984). Stress Appraisal & Copping. New York: Springer.

  • Lolas, F., Gomez, A. & Suarez, L. (1991). EPQ-R and Suicide Attempts: The Relevance of Psychoticism. Personality & Individual Differences, 12(9), pp. 899-902.

  • Marzuk, P. M., Matthew, M. D., Nock, M. S., Leon, A. C., Portera, M. S., & Tardiff, M. D. (2002). Suicide among New York City Police Officer’s. The American Journal of Psychiatry, 159(7), pp. 2069-2071.

  • Mearns, C. (2003). Relationship between Teacher’s Occupational Stress and Their Burnout and Distress: Role of coping and Negative Mood Regulations Expectancies. Anxiety Stress and Coping, 16(1), pp. 71-82.

  • Pienaar, J., Sebastiaan, R., Fans, J. R. & Van, D. V. (2007). Occupational Stress, Personality Traits, Coping Strategies and Suicide Ideations in the South African Police Service. Criminal Justice & Behaviour, 34, pp. 246-258.

  • Pompillim, R., Akiskal, H. S., & Inmenotrian, I. P. (2008). Temperament and Personality dimensions in Suicidal and Non-suicidal Psychiatric Impatients. Psychopathology, 41, pp. 312-321.

  • Rothman, S. & Strijdom. (2002). Suicide Ideation in the South African Police Services in the North-West Province. South African Journal of Industrial Psychology, 28(1), pp. 44-48.

  • Rothmann, S., Meiring, D., Walt, V. D. H. S., & Barrick, M. (2002). Predicting Job Performance Using Personality Measures in South Africa. Paper Presented at the 17th Annual Conference of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology. Toronto, Canada.

  • Schmidtke, A., Fricke, S., & Lester, D. (1999). Suicide among German Federal and State Police Officers. Psychological Reports, 84(1), pp. 157-166.

  • Srivastava, A. K. & Singh, A. P. (1984). Manual of Occupational Stress Index. Varanasi: Rupa Psychological Centre.

  • Steven, S. (2004). Suicide among Social Workers: A Research Note. Archives of Suicide Research, 8(4), pp. 379-388.


Abstract Views: 343

PDF Views: 0




  • Predictors of Suicidal Ideation among Police Personnel

Abstract Views: 343  |  PDF Views: 0

Authors

Rohtash Singh
Dept. of Psychology, Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra, Haryana, India
Muni Ram
Dept. of Psychology, M.D. University, Rohtak, Haryana, India
Mandeep Sharma
Dept. of Psychology, M.D. University, Rohtak, Haryana, India

Abstract


Suicidal ideation is the first warning sign of more serious suicidal behavior. Suicide ideation constitutes but one aspect of suicidal behavior, and is defined as the domain of thoughts and ideas about death, suicide, and serious self-injurious behavior. The present investigation was planned to study predictors of suicidal ideation among police personal. The sample for the study consisted of 202 police personnel (head constable=125, inspector=77) who aged between 24 and 58 years. The subjects were assessed with Neo-Five Factor Inventory, Scale for Suicide Ideation, Occupational Stress Index, and Ways of Coping Questionnaire. Data were processed by correlation and regression analysis. The results revealed that suicidal ideation is significantly associated with personality, occupational stress, and coping among police personal. Step-wise regression analysis identified three predictors of suicidal ideation, i.e., unreasonable group and political pressures, positive reappraisal, and escape avoidance. The results of step-wise regression analysis revealed that the linear combination of unreasonable group and political pressures, positive reappraisal, and escape avoidance account for significant proportion of variance (15%) in suicidal ideation among police personnel.

Keywords


Suicidal Ideation, Personality, Occupational Stress, Coping

References