Patterns and predictors of alcohol use in male and female urban police officers.

In a large sample of urban police officers, 18.1% of males and 15.9% of females reported experiencing adverse consequences from alcohol use and 7.

Frequency and severity approaches to indexing exposure to trauma: the Critical Incident History Questionnaire for police officers.

The Critical Incident History Questionnaire indexes cumulative exposure to traumatic incidents in police by examining incident frequency and rated severity. In over 700 officers, event severity was negatively correlated (r(s) = -.61) with frequency of exposure.

The effectiveness of interventions to reduce psychological harm from traumatic events among children and adolescents: a systematic review.

Children and adolescents in the U.S. and worldwide are commonly exposed to traumatic events, yet practitioners treating these young people to reduce subsequent psychological harm may not be aware of-or use-interventions based on the best available evidence.

Effects on violence of laws and policies facilitating the transfer of youth from the juvenile to the adult justice system: a report on recommendations of the Task Force on Community Preventive Services.

The independent, nonfederal Task Force on Community Preventive Services (Task Force), which directs the development of the Guide to Community Preventive Services (Community Guide), conducted a systematic review of published scientific evidence concerning the effectiveness of laws and policies that facilitate the transfer of juveniles to the adult criminal justice system to determine whether these transfers prevent or reduce violence among youth who have been transferred and among the juvenile population as a whole. For this review, transfer is defined as placing juveniles aged <18 years under the jurisdiction of the adult criminal justice system. The review followed Community Guide methods for conducting a systematic review of literature and for providing recommendations to public health decision makers.

Effectiveness of universal school-based programs to prevent violent and aggressive behavior: a systematic review.

Universal, school-based programs, intended to prevent violent behavior, have been used at all grade levels from pre-kindergarten through high school. These programs may be targeted to schools in a high-risk area-defined by low socioeconomic status or high crime rate-and to selected grades as well. All children in those grades receive the programs in their own classrooms, not in special pull-out sessions.

The effectiveness of universal school-based programs for the prevention of violent and aggressive behavior: a report on recommendations of the Task Force on Community Preventive Services.

Universal school-based programs to reduce or prevent violent behavior are delivered to all children in classrooms in a grade or in a school. Similarly, programs targeted to schools in high-risk areas (defined by low socioeconomic status or high crime rates) are delivered to all children in a grade or school in those high-risk areas. During 2004-2006, the Task Force on Community Preventive Services (Task Force) conducted a systematic review of published scientific evidence concerning the effectiveness of these programs.

Effects on violence of laws and policies facilitating the transfer of juveniles from the juvenile justice system to the adult justice system: a systematic review.

The independent, nonfederal Task Force on Community Preventive Services (Task Force), which directs development of the Guide to Community Preventive Services (Community Guide), has conducted a systematic review of published scientific evidence concerning the effectiveness of laws and policies that facilitate the transfer of juveniles to the adult criminal justice system, on either preventing or reducing violence (1) among those youth who experience the adult criminal system or (2) in the juvenile population as a whole. This review focuses on interpersonal violence. Violence may lead to the juvenile's initial arrest and entry into the justice system and, for those who are arrested, may be committed subsequent to exiting the justice system.

The impact of personal threat on police officers' responses to critical incident stressors.

The relationship of type of critical incident (CI) stressor with peritraumatic responses and posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms was examined in police. Officers (N = 662) provided narratives of their most distressing CI experienced during police service and completed measures of related peritraumatic responses and posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms. Narratives were reliably rated (kappa = .

Predictors of posttraumatic stress in police and other first responders.

We provide an overview of previous research conducted by our group on risk and resilience factors for PTSD symptoms in police and other first responders. Based on our work, the findings of other investigators on individual differences in risk for PTSD, and drawing on preclinical studies fear conditioning and extinction, we propose a conceptual model for the development of PTSD symptoms emphasizing the role of vulnerability and resilience to peritraumatic panic reactions. We tested this conceptual model in a cross-sectional sample of police officers (n = 715).

Alexithymia and PTSD symptoms in urban police officers: cross-sectional and prospective findings.

The relationship of alexithymia to posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptomatology was examined cross-sectionally in 166 urban police officers surveyed between 1998 and 1999 and prospectively in 54 of these officers who participated in a follow-up survey after the September 11, 2001 (9/11) terrorist attacks. In cross-sectional analyses, alexithymia scores were positively associated with PTSD symptom levels and self-reported childhood emotional abuse--neglect, but not with cumulative level of critical incident exposure. Alexithymia scores accounted for 11.

Peritraumatic fear, helplessness and horror and peritraumatic dissociation: do physical and cognitive symptoms of panic mediate the relationship between the two?

The goal of this study was to examine whether panic mediates the relationship between fear, helplessness, and horror (PTSD criterion A2) and dissociation at the time of trauma. The study sample included 709 police officers and 317 peer-nominated civilians who had been exposed to a variety of critical incidents. Participants filled out measures of critical incident exposure, PTSD criterion A2, panic, and dissociation.

Therapeutic foster care for the prevention of violence: a report on recommendations of the Task Force on Community Preventive Services.

In therapeutic foster care programs, youths who cannot live at home are placed in homes with foster parents who have been trained to provide a structured environment that supports their learning social and emotional skills. To assess the effectiveness of such programs in preventing violent behavior among participating youths, the Task Force on Community Preventive Services conducted a systematic review of the scientific literature regarding these programs. Reported and observed violence, including violent crime, were direct measures.

First reports evaluating the effectiveness of strategies for preventing violence: early childhood home visitation. Findings from the Task Force on Community Preventive Services.

Early childhood home visitation programs are those in which parents and children are visited in their home during the child's first 2 years of life by trained personnel who provide some combination of the following: information, support, or training regarding child health, development, and care. Home visitation has been used for a wide range of objectives, including improvement of the home environment, family development, and prevention of child behavior problems. The Task Force on Community Preventive Services (the Task Force) conducted a systematic review of scientific evidence concerning the effectiveness of early childhood home visitation for preventing several forms of violence: violence by the visited child against self or others; violence against the child (i.

Critical incident exposure and sleep quality in police officers.

Objective: Police officers face many stressors that may negatively impact sleep quality. This study compares subjective sleep quality in police officers with that in control subjects not involved in police or emergency services. We examined the effects of critical incident exposure (trauma exposure) and routine (nontraumatic) work environment stressors on sleep quality after controlling for the effects of work shift schedule.