Non-pharmacological mental health interventions for law enforcement officers: A systematic review

Abstract

There is a high incidence of law enforcement officers that suffer from mental health conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, and depression; however, specific interventions for law enforcement officers are rare. The purpose of this systematic review was to summarize current literature that investigated non-pharmacological mental health interventions for law enforcement officers. The systematic review was conducted following the guidelines of the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses. PubMed, PsycINFO, and Google Scholar were searched from 1 January 2018 to 20 September 2023. Inclusion criteria consisted of quantitative studies that 1) investigated interventions designed to address mental health challenges, 2) included law enforcement personnel as participants; and 3) measured health outcomes. Qualitative research, review studies, case reports, expert opinions, editorials, study protocol, and English full text that did not exist after contacting corresponding authors were excluded. A quality appraisal of the studies included was conducted following the Joanna Briggs Institute Systematic Reviews Tools. Eighteen studies met the eligibility criteria with a total of 4246 officers. Our findings showed that mindfulness-based interventions (n = 10), cognitive behavior therapy (n = 5), and health behaviors interventions (n = 3), improved mental illness symptoms, and stress biomarkers (e.g., salivary cortisol and heart rate). Future research should employ longitudinal designs with large sample sizes to validate the long-term effects of mental health interventions and minimize self-report measures as they introduce bias.

Keywords: Burnout; Cognitive-behavioral therapy; Law enforcement officers; Mindfulness-based interventions; Occupational stress; Post-traumatic stress disorder; Resilience.