Background and aims: Amongst all public servants in Taiwan, police officers are one of the highest risk groups to commit suicide. Job satisfaction and social support are positively associated with mental health. Working as a police officer means working long shifts, leading to irregular days off that might be harmful to job satisfaction and social support. This study aimed 1) to survey the level of job satisfaction, depression, and anxiety and 2) to investigate the predictors for depression and anxiety amongst senior police officers in central Taiwan.
Methods: Senior police officers that voluntarily joined a health screening program at one medical center were surveyed; a total number of 145 participants were obtained. Data were analyzed by t-tests and multiple regressions.
Results: The mean overall job satisfaction was scored between “unsure” and “a little satisfied”. The three most satisfied aspects of work were fellow workers, payroll, and immediate bosses; the three least satisfied aspects were chance of promotion, hours of work, and amount of responsibility given. There was 15.2% of the participants in depressive mood, and 8.4% had an anxious disposition. Regression analysis showed that self-perception of having more close friends and high satisfaction with immediate bosses were associated with lower depression scores. Self-perception of having fewer close friends was associated with higher anxiety scores.
Conclusion: The overall job satisfaction of senior police officers had room for improvement, and strategies should be adopted to enhance positive perception of their job. The quantity of social support from friends was negatively correlated with levels of depression and anxiety. It would be worthwhile to develop Employee Assistant Programs, which are designed specifically to assist police officers to enhance social skills and build social networks.
