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Behind the front line stressors and coping in Border Services Officers

University of British Columbia

Eighty one Border Services Officers (BSOs) completed a survey package to explore BSOs’ levels of occupational stress using the Police Stress Questionnaire-Organization (PSQ-Org) and Police Stress Questionnaire – Operational (PSQ-Op). Data analysis explored gender differences, years of service, armed versus unarmed officers and coping styles. Officers reported moderate levels of stress on the PSQ-Org and PSQ-Op across all variables examined. A correlation matrix determined relationships between coping strategies and the PSQ-Org and PSQ-Op. The PSQ-Org was significantly correlated with disengagement coping r = .26, p = < .05 while the PSQ-Op was correlated to both engagement coping r = .28, p = < .05 and disengagement coping r = .35, p = <.01. Gender differences in coping were found as female officers had a significant correlation between engagement coping and the PSQ-Org r = .41, p = < .05 and the PSQ-Op r = .53, p = < .01. Significant correlations between engagement coping and social support coping were also found for female officers r = .67, p = < .01. Male officers reported using disengagement coping which was significantly correlated with all three stress measures PSQ-Org r = .32, p = < .05, PSQ-Op r = .43, p = < .01, and weekly stress r = .32, p = < .05. Qualitative data suggested that BSOs may have experienced role conflict, role ambiguity, and role overload associated with organizational stressors comprised of management style and short staffing. Impact of current study on proactive interventions in the workplace is discussed.

Text

2012-10-26

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

http://hdl.handle.net/2429/43536

Counselling Psychology

University of British Columbia

UBCV

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/