A Pilot Trial of Mindfulness-Based Resilience Training Among Police Officers
Condition: Mindfulness
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      Successful policing requires rapid and unbiased decision-making, well-developed emotion
      regulation skills, and psychological resilience. However, law enforcement officers (LEOs) are
      frequently exposed to intensive work-related stress and trauma, and consequently, are at
      elevated risk of adverse mental health outcomes. These mental health issues in turn are some
      of the primary mechanisms underlying other- and self-directed violence among LEOs. The
      excessive use of force by LEOs, including unjustified shootings, frequently captures national
      headlines and is considered by many to be one of the most serious and divisive human rights
      issues in the United States. Previous research suggests that LEOs can be impacted by various
      factors when making rapid decisions while using firearms, including a lack of careful
      consideration of contextual factors and unconscious racial stereotypes. This is especially
      true when their cognitive and emotional resources are compromised due to factors such as
      stress. Similarly, key precursors to suicide among LEOs include chronic stress, exposure to
      trauma, alcohol misuse, and depression. The substantial personal, social, and economic costs
      of LEO stress, including unjustified shootings and suicide, suggest a clear need for
      innovative and novel prevention programs to promote well-being and reduce violence. Given its
      demonstrated impact on many of the precursors to self- and other-directed violence among
      LEOs, one possible approach is an adapted Mindfulness-Based Stress-Reduction (MBSR) program,
      developed specifically for LEOs. Therefore, the primary objectives of this proposal are to:
      (1) assess the feasibility of recruitment, adherence to program intervention, and compliance
      with assessment instruments, and (2) determine the impact of an adapted MBSR program
      (Mindfulness-Based Resilience Training; MBRT) on precursors to other- and self-directed
      violence, and in promoting psychological resilience and emotion regulation among LEOs. There
      is promising preliminary evidence suggesting that mindfulness is an effective strategy for
      LEOs to decrease stress and its negative outcomes, enhance resilience and emotion regulation,
      and ultimately reduce other- and self-directed violence. The proposed project will test the
      impact of MBRT using a pilot feasibility randomized controlled trial (RCT). This research
      will generate important information on the feasibility of recruitment, adherence to program
      intervention, and compliance with assessment instruments, and data obtained through the
      proposed study will build on the investigators existing work to provide support for a larger
      RCT examining the efficacy of MBRT in reducing violence.
    


Intervention name(s): MBRT
Intervention type(s): Behavioral
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Single (Outcomes Assessor)
Primary purpose: Prevention
Keywords: policing; resilience; implicit bias; violence