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Biopsychosocial Considerations among Trauma Exposed Professionals: Implications for Operational Stress Injury and Post-traumatic Stress Disorder

A special issue of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (ISSN 1660-4601). This special issue belongs to the section "Mental Health".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (25 March 2022) | Viewed by 15884

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Judith P. Andersen

E-Mail Website1 Website2
Chief Guest Editor
Department of Psychology, University of Toronto Mississauga, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada
Interests: Psychophysiology; health psychology; chronic and traumatic stress; occupational stress and performance among first responders; military personnel; police and law enforcement professionals; PTSD; OSI and physical health conditions; Specializes in resilience and performance interventions for wellbeing and health in high stress occupations
Dr. Eamonn Arble

E-Mail Website
Assistant Guest Editor
Psychology Department, College of Arts and Sciences, Eastern Michigan University, Ypsilanti, MI 48197, USA
Interests: clinical personality assessment; first responders; trauma resilience
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Paula Di Nota

E-Mail Website
Assistant Guest Editor
Department of Psychology, University of Toronto Mississauga, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada
Interests: Cognitive neuroscience; attention, perception, memory, and action processing; training, learning and expertise; occupational stress in police and public safety personnel

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

We are pleased to invite articles for the Special Issue entitled: Biopsychosocial Considerations among Trauma-Exposed Professionals: Implications for Operational Stress Injury and Post-traumatic Stress Disorder. The collection will include important high-quality papers published in open access form to facilitate distribution to a broad readership.

Trauma-exposed professionals include but are not limited to public safety and healthcare personnel and frontline essential service workers that encounter potentially psychologically traumatic events (PPTE). Researchers have identified high rates of clinically significant mental health symptoms, including depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), among workers exposed to PPTE in the course of their duties. These symptoms are collectively known as operational stress injuries (OSI) and bear significant costs to productivity (i.e., absenteeism, reduced performance) as well as physical and mental health. Despite efforts to empirically evaluate and effectively prevent or treat OSIs, much of the literature is focused on psychological and functional aspects of these conditions as measured by subjective or self-reported surveys. This Special Issue is designed to present new knowledge, theory, and empirical data on the biopsychosocial aspects of OSI and PTSD, including physiological mediators, neurological processing, and physical health outcomes as measured by objective methods or biomarker data. Furthermore, a discussion of potential and ongoing interventions targeting physiological and neurological factors that may be effective in mitigating OSI and PTSD are welcomed. Articles discussing the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic on OSI and PTSD among PPTE-exposed workers are also encouraged.

We encourage potential contributors to send a short abstract and tentative title to Sean (sean.sun@mdpi.com) for review and feedback prior to submission. All included articles in the Special Issue will undergo a rigorous peer-review process and can include both original research articles or comprehensive review papers. We look forward to receiving your contribution to this Special Issue.

Prof. Judith P. Andersen
Prof. Eamonn Arble
Dr. Paula Di Nota
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2500 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Frontline workers
  • PTSD
  • OSI
  • Psychophysiology
  • Biomarkers
  • Stress
  • Intervention
  • Public safety personnel
  • Essential workers
  • PPTE

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Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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12 pages, 1887 KiB  
Article
Experience-Dependent Effects to Situational Awareness in Police Officers: An Eye Tracking Study
by Juha-Matti Huhta, Paula M. Di Nota, Veikko Surakka, Poika Isokoski and Eero Ropo
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(9), 5047; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19095047 - 21 Apr 2022
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 3277
Abstract
Police work requires making suitable observations which form the basis of situational awareness (SA) of the encounter in progress. Incomplete early-stage SA (i.e., perception) can lead to errors in subsequent judgement and decision-making that can have severe consequences for performance, learning, and occupational [...] Read more.
Police work requires making suitable observations which form the basis of situational awareness (SA) of the encounter in progress. Incomplete early-stage SA (i.e., perception) can lead to errors in subsequent judgement and decision-making that can have severe consequences for performance, learning, and occupational health. SA in police contexts is still relatively understudied and requires closer examination using objective measures. The current preliminary study aimed to measure the gaze and fixation patterns among novice and expert police officers to understand early-stage SA at different levels of professional experience. Participants included 23 novices (10 early, 13 intermediate) and 11 experienced officers and instructors in tactics and use of force. Visit duration and fixation order were measured while participants viewed various static images of staged encounters. Results showed that all participants fixated longer on targets compared to the periphery, and fixated earlier on suspects’ faces compared to hands, bodies, or the environment. Further, experts fixated earlier on hands and spent less time scanning the environment than early novices. The current findings reveal eye movement patterns while officers engaged in typical police encounters. Future research can inform evidence-based police training to achieve optimal SA and minimize negative outcomes in training and operational field settings. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biopsychosocial Considerations among Trauma Exposed Professionals: Implications for Operational Stress Injury and Post-traumatic Stress Disorder)
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11 pages, 834 KiB  
Article
Peer Support for Public Safety Personnel in Canada: Towards a Typology
by Jill A. B. Price, Adeyemi O. Ogunade, Amber J. Fletcher, Rosemary Ricciardelli, Gregory S. Anderson, Heidi Cramm and R. Nicholas Carleton
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(9), 5013; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19095013 - 20 Apr 2022
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 3529
Abstract
Public safety personnel (PSP) are frequently exposed to potentially psychologically traumatic events (PPTEs) which can impact mental health. To help mitigate the negative effects of PPTEs, PSP commonly rely on peer support. Peer support generally refers to a wide variety of mental health [...] Read more.
Public safety personnel (PSP) are frequently exposed to potentially psychologically traumatic events (PPTEs) which can impact mental health. To help mitigate the negative effects of PPTEs, PSP commonly rely on peer support. Peer support generally refers to a wide variety of mental health resources that offer social or emotional assistance to a peer, and in some cases professional assistance. Despite the use of and demand for peer support, there is relatively little empirical evidence regarding effectiveness. The evidence gaps regarding peer support effectiveness may be due, in part, to inadequate guidelines and standards of practice that are publicly supported by a consensus among peer support providers. The current study was designed to explore the current conceptualization and implementation of peer support among Canadian PSP using a document analysis. The results indicate that peer support can be conceptualized via three models (i.e., peer-enabled, peer-led, peer-partnership) and implemented via two delivery methods (i.e., program, service). The research team proposed a novel diagram towards a typology of peer support to highlight the diversity in peer support conceptualization and implementation and provide a foundation for the development of mutually agreed-upon language and a shared framework. Overall, the current study can help inform peer support resources within and beyond PSP communities. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biopsychosocial Considerations among Trauma Exposed Professionals: Implications for Operational Stress Injury and Post-traumatic Stress Disorder)
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12 pages, 472 KiB  
Communication
Considering Objective and Subjective Measures for Police Use of Force Evaluation
by Paula M. Di Nota, Jennifer F. Chan, Juha-Matti Huhta and Judith P. Andersen
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(10), 5351; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18105351 - 18 May 2021
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 3599
Abstract
In spite of significant interest in the application of police use of force (UOF) from organisations, researchers, and the general public, there remains no industry standard for how police UOF is trained, and by extension, evaluated. While certain UOF behaviours can be objectively [...] Read more.
In spite of significant interest in the application of police use of force (UOF) from organisations, researchers, and the general public, there remains no industry standard for how police UOF is trained, and by extension, evaluated. While certain UOF behaviours can be objectively measured (e.g., correct shoot/no shoot decision making (DM), shot accuracy), the subjective evaluation of many UOF skills (e.g., situation awareness, SA) falls to the discretion of individual instructors. The aim of the current brief communication is to consider the operationalisation of essential UOF behaviours as objective and subjective measures, respectively. Using longitudinal data from a sample of Canadian police officers (n = 57) evaluated during UOF training scenarios, we discuss how objective and subjective measures reflect changes in officer performance over time. Objective lethal force DM was measured as a binary ‘correct–incorrect’ outcome and subjective SA was measured on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from ‘unacceptable’ to ‘exceptional’. Subjective evaluation of SA demonstrated significant changes over time, while DM remained relatively high and stable. Given the practical and professional implications of UOF, we recommend that a combination of objective and subjective measures is systematically implemented at all stages of police UOF training and evaluation (i.e., basic, advanced, in-service). Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biopsychosocial Considerations among Trauma Exposed Professionals: Implications for Operational Stress Injury and Post-traumatic Stress Disorder)
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Review

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9 pages, 649 KiB  
Review
Anticoagulants and the Hemostatic System: A Primer for Occupational Stress Researchers
by Eamonn Arble and Bengt B. Arnetz
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(20), 10626; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph182010626 - 11 Oct 2021
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 4554
Abstract
Anticoagulation, the body’s mechanism to prevent blood clotting, is an internal biomarker of an individual’s response to stress. Research has indicated that understanding the causes, processes, and consequences of anticoagulation can provide important insight into the experience of individuals facing emotional and occupational [...] Read more.
Anticoagulation, the body’s mechanism to prevent blood clotting, is an internal biomarker of an individual’s response to stress. Research has indicated that understanding the causes, processes, and consequences of anticoagulation can provide important insight into the experience of individuals facing emotional and occupational strain. Unfortunately, despite their importance, the mechanisms and implications of anticoagulation are unfamiliar to many researchers and practitioners working with trauma-exposed professionals. This paper provides an accessible primer on the topic of anticoagulation, including an overview of the biological process, the research connecting these processes with emotional and occupational functioning, as well as some potential methods for assessment. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biopsychosocial Considerations among Trauma Exposed Professionals: Implications for Operational Stress Injury and Post-traumatic Stress Disorder)
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