Effects of physical conditioning on self-concept of adult obese males. Helping police officers to cope with stress: a cognitive--behavioral approach. Psychological and physical benefits of circuit weight training in law enforcement personnel.
The purpose of the study was to investigate possible psychological changes in obese men after participating in an eight-week nutrition and physical conditioning program. The subjects, 45 male, metropolitan policemen who were considered at least 20 percent over their optimum body weights, were placed on diets and received weekly instruction on topics of nutrition and exercise. The subjects were randomly divided into two groups, one that participated in aerobic conditioning and one that did not. The amount of oxygen consumption, as an index of physical fitness, and performance on selected subscales of the Tennessee Self-concept Scale (TSCS) were measured before and after the training and conditioning programs. Both groups displayed significant increases in oxygen consumption and on the Physical Self and Self-satisfaction subscales, but on all these measures, the Conditioning Group increased significantly (2 to 3 times) more. For both groups, the Total Variability measure from the TSCS showed significant reductions, which have been associated with personality integration. These results demonstrate that physical conditioning and dietary educational sessions or educational sessions alone are associated with positive changes in self-concept in obese individuals and also corroborate other studies that show links between physical and psychological fitness. Police Academy trainees participated in a stress management program which focused on developing skills for coping with anxiety and anger. Stress management training took place in six 2-hour sessions and included instruction and practice in the self-monitoring of reactions to stressful situations, muscular relaxation, and the development of adaptive self-statements. Self-report measures of anxiety and anger were obtained before and after the stress management program. In addition, self and observer ratings of trainees' performance in stressful simulated police activities were utilized as posttreatment dependent measures. In comparison to a control group of trainees, the performance of the treatment group was rated, by academy personnel, as superior in several of the simulated police activities. The results of the present study suggest that stress management with law enforcement officers may be most effective when the program focuses on the specific situations which are likely to be encountered by trainees. Limitations of the present program are examined and suggestions for future efforts with law enforcement personnel are discussed. The effects of circuit weight training on mood, perceived stress, job satisfaction, and physical symptoms were investigated in a sample of state law enforcement officers. Forty-three male officers who were not regularly exercising were assigned to either 4 months of circuit weight training or a wait-list control condition. Four months of circuit weight training led to a significant increase in strength on cardiovascular fitness. Subjects also demonstrated significant improvements in mood, including decreases in somatization, anxiety, depression, and hostility. Circuit weight training also resulted in a decrease in reports of physical symptoms and in improvements in job satisfaction. Results indicated that subjects who dropped out of the exercise training program evidenced significantly greater anxiety, depression, and hostility at pretreatment than subjects who completed the program. These findings suggest that circuit weight training programs may contribute to important psychological benefits.
There is evidence only from individual small and low quality trials with minimal data suggesting that police officers benefit from psychosocial interventions, in terms of physical symptoms and psychological symptoms such as anxiety, depression, sleep problems, cynicism, anger, PTSD, marital problems and distress. No data on adverse effects were available. Meta-analyses of the available data were not possible. Further well-designed trials of psychosocial interventions are required. Research is needed on organization-based interventions to enhance psychological health among police officers.