Date of Award
Spring 3-24-2022
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
D.S.W. Social work
Department
Social Work
First Advisor
Dr. Barth Yeboah
Second Advisor
Dr. Jonathan Kremser
Third Advisor
Dr. Yasoda Sharma
Abstract
Police officers dedicate their careers to serving and protecting the communities they work in. Research is finding that the intensity of demands put on their mental health has turned suicide rates amongst police officers is at critical levels and has been declared by experts to be a ‘pandemic’ in the population (Wylie, 2020). There are very few researchers who broach police officers’ mental health. Social workers’ education and values make them uniquely qualified to engage in this study. The literature in policing supports that there are no assessments designed specifically for police and there are no known measures that provide a holistic measure of a police department’s mental status. Successful development of the police department wellness survey can bridge some of the gaps in officer mental wellness and provide much needed and valuable information for department administrators, researchers, and clinicians.
The objective of this study is to develop and validate the foundational constructs of the police department wellness survey. The primary stages of survey development accomplished are to support the need with the literature review, integrate focus groups and cognitive interviews into the scales draft, initiate the pilot study and complete statistical analysis, utilize the result to plan the future steps, and scale refinement beyond this dissertation.
Data is collected from a convenience sample of officers (N=327), and statistically analyzed and interpreted. Five domains are blueprinted and supported by literature and factorial analysis, (emotional impact, physical impact, spiritual impact, barriers to treatment, and currently utilized coping skills). This scale is made of 33 items and 45 variables. Two demographic items are asked. One multi-response question and six atheoretical questions required varied statistical review and are not included in the factor analysis. Total number of variables analyzed with factor analysis grouping is 23. Results of the analysis supply statistical support that this scale is reliable and valid. Additional analysis and refinement need to be completed in post-doctorate work before a complete survey can be dispersed for common use.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Recommended Citation
White, Tia, "The Development of the Police Department Wellness Survey (PDWS)" (2022). Social Work Doctoral Dissertations. 22.
https://research.library.kutztown.edu/socialworkdissertations/22
Included in
Industrial and Organizational Psychology Commons, Other Psychology Commons, Other Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons, Other Sociology Commons, Social Work Commons
Comments
Police officers dedicate their careers to serving and protecting the communities they work in. Research is finding that the intensity of demands put on their mental health has turned suicide rates amongst police officers is at critical levels and has been declared by experts to be a ‘pandemic’ in the population (Wylie, 2020). There are very few researchers who broach police officers’ mental health. Social workers’ education and values make them uniquely qualified to engage in this study. The literature in policing supports that there are no assessments designed specifically for police and there are no known measures that provide a holistic measure of a police department’s mental status. Successful development of the police department wellness survey can bridge some of the gaps in officer mental wellness and provide much needed and valuable information for department administrators, researchers, and clinicians.
The objective of this study is to develop and validate the foundational constructs of the police department wellness survey. The primary stages of survey development accomplished are to support the need with the literature review, integrate focus groups and cognitive interviews into the scales draft, initiate the pilot study and complete statistical analysis, utilize the result to plan the future steps, and scale refinement beyond this dissertation.
Data is collected from a convenience sample of officers (N=327), and statistically analyzed and interpreted. Five domains are blueprinted and supported by literature and factorial analysis, (emotional impact, physical impact, spiritual impact, barriers to treatment, and currently utilized coping skills). This scale is made of 33 items and 45 variables. Two demographic items are asked. One multi-response question and six atheoretical questions required varied statistical review and are not included in the factor analysis. Total number of variables analyzed with factor analysis grouping is 23. Results of the analysis supply statistical support that this scale is reliable and valid. Additional analysis and refinement need to be completed in post-doctorate work before a complete survey can be dispersed for common use.