Stress Management Competency Framework in English policing.

Area of Science:

• Occupational Health Psychology
• Police Management
• Organizational Behavior

Background:

• The UK Health and Safety Executive's Stress Management Competency Framework (SMCF) and Stress Management Competency Indicator Tool (SMCIT) assess line manager behaviors.
• The application of the SMCIT within the policing sector is an underexplored area.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate English police officers' perceptions of their line managers' competencies based on the SMCF.
• To determine the association between perceived line manager development needs and officer mental wellbeing and work attitudes.

Main Methods:

• A survey was administered to 263 police officers, including the SMCIT, psychological distress, resilience, and work engagement measures.
• Bivariate correlations and binary logistic regression analyses were employed to examine relationships between variables.

Main Results:

• Around 50% of officers identified development needs in their line managers concerning work management, individual team management, and reasoning skills.
• Approximately 25% noted development needs in the 'Respectful and Responsible' competency area.
• Perceived line manager development needs were linked to significantly increased odds (up to four-fold) of psychological distress, low resilience, and low work engagement.

Conclusions:

• The SMCF competencies are pertinent to the English policing context.
• Line manager behaviors, as assessed by the SMCIT, provide a foundation for developing stress reduction interventions in policing.