Emotional distress among police academy recruits: Humor and coping

Abstract

Police work, beginning as early as academy training, is inherently stressful and carries risks for officer wellbeing. Humor has been cited as useful way for officers to handle stress. This study investigated the relationship between humor and emotional distress among a sample of 101 police recruits from Phase 1 of the National Police Research Platform. Findings indicated that reliance on humor as a coping strategy increased among recruits during the police academy and hierarchical regression analyses showed that greater levels of use of humor as a coping strategy in the academy predicted a decrease in emotional distress upon academy graduation.

Keywords

Police recruits police stress humor stress and coping

Police wellness has emerged as a central concern in modern policing due to growing knowledge of police stress, police mental health, and police suicide. Additionally, increased public scrutiny of police in the aftermath of highly publicized events, such as officer involved shootings, has led to discussion about strained police-community relationships and negative impacts on officer mental health (Galovski et al ., 2018; Schaper, 2016). These emerging issues led to the development of the President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing, which named officer wellness as an important area of focus (President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing, 2015).

The ways in which officers cope with stress is critical in reducing the negative effects of stress on their health and wellbeing. Extant research on police stress management has shown that officers tend to utilize maladaptive strategies to cope with stress (Atkinson-Tovar, 2003; Cross and Ashley, 2004; Violanti, 1992). However, the role of humor as it relates to officers’ emotional wellbeing is less understood despite evidence that humor is an important part of the law enforcement subculture for both socialization and coping (Garrick, 2006; Godfrey, 2016; Vivona, 2014).

Humor has been recognized as a coping strategy and a sign of resilience (Lefcourt, 2001). The study of humor among police officers has been largely focused on their use of ‘dark humor’ or ‘gallows humor’ which is used to disengage from troubling circumstances, often in the context of death and tragedy (Saroglou and Anciaux, 2004; Thorson, 1993). Studies on humor in police work have included samples of officers and special units, like crime scene investigators; however, the police academy training context, which is widely considered a stressful experience for recruits (McCarty and Lawrence, 2016; Violanti, 1993), has yet to be fully represented in humor and police stress research. Police academy training exposes recruits to rigorous physical, mental, and emotional stress to prepare new officers to combat challenges encountered in the line of duty (Violanti, 1993). While new hires are subjected to extensive background checks and psychological screenings to ensure their physical and mental fitness, adverse mental health among recruits as they enter their careers has also been found (Williams et al ., 2010). A greater understanding of what contributes to mental and emotional health of early career officers would help police organizations keep their healthy officers healthy.

The implications of emotional wellness extend beyond the individual health of officers to impact their families, police organizations, and the communities they serve (Smoktunowicz, et al ., 2015; Tuttle et al ., 2018). Therefore, understanding how humor influences the emotional distress of recruits who are entering the field of policing is essential for enhancing police wellness and policing practices. The benefits of humor on the relationship between stress and wellness, as well the unique role of humor in the law enforcement subculture, present a need to better understand the relationship between humor and emotional wellness for early career officers. The current study will examine changes in the use of humor as a coping strategy among a sample of police recruits during their police academy experience and how coping through humor is related to their emotional distress in the police academy.

Police stress and emotional wellness

The barrage of stressors encountered by police, to include exposure to trauma and the suffering of others, carries collateral consequences for the mental and emotional wellness of officers (Violanti & Aron, 1993). In addition to stress exposure, officers are faced with psychological strain from discrepancies in role demands (Chopko, 2011; Papazoglou, 2013). Officers’ individual, emotional reactions to stressful experiences often include guilt, anger, fear, feelings of hopelessness, and emotional numbness (Atkinson-Tovar, 2003; Cross and Ashley, 2004). Police stress gives rise to serious challenges to the mental health of officers in the forms of anxiety, depression, burnout, compassion fatigue, and posttraumatic stress disorder (Miller, 2005; Violanti et al ., 2013).

Coping among police officers

Coping is thought to be both the cognitive and behavioral effort put forth to master, tolerate, or reduce external and internal demands and conflicts among them (Folkman and Lazarus, 1980). Research on coping among police has demonstrated that some officers utilize adaptive coping strategies such as exercise, receiving social support, or viewing stress positively; however, others cope through disengaging, disassociating, suppression, and avoidance, as well as self-medication, substance use, sexual promiscuity, and gambling (Aaron, 2000; Cross and Ashley, 2004; Ménard et al ., 2013). Research suggests that officers engage in maladaptive coping as an attempt to avoid the stigma associated with seeking mental health support in the law enforcement culture and to uphold the ‘cop’ image (Cross and Ashley, 2004; Reiser and Geiger, 1984).

Humor and coping

Humor is used as a coping strategy in stressful occupational contexts (Moran and Roth, 2013; Roth and Vivona, 2010). Humor has been conceptualized as an emotional response of mirth in a social context that is elicited by a perception of playful incongruity and is expressed through smiling and laughter (Martin, 2007). Prior research has shown that dissociative coping by law enforcement officers is maladaptive (Aaron, 2000). However, the phenomenon of humor and its usefulness for police stress management is related to the benefits of being able to disengage from threatening or disturbing situations of which they have little to no control (Roth and Vivona, 2010). Humor also carries benefits of positive reframing and allows for an emotional break in the face of stress (Saroglou and Anciaux, 2004).

Burns et al . (2008) examined humor among officers who work cases involving crimes against children and found that humor removes toxicity from stressful moments. There is a consensus that the use of humor gives officers a sense of normalcy in the face of stress, reduces tension, and is useful for their emotional survival of the job (Burns et al . 2008; Moran and Roth, 2013; Roth and Vivona, 2010; Vivona, 2014). Researchers have also observed jokes among police to be used as an attempt to ‘purge the internal obstacles that holds one back from danger’ and have compared joking to the use of a bullet proof vest when confronting tragedy (Gayadeen and Phillips, 2016: 51).

A majority of research on humor in policing has focused on ‘dark humor’ or ‘gallows humor’ styles which is unique in that it involves circumstances of death. Dark humor is protective during encounters with suffering (Dean and Gregory, 2005). These styles of humor are used to make fun of emotional threats and are considered forms of mental disengagement (Saroglou and Anciaux, 2004). Roth and Vivona (2010) assert that humor is applied in the work lives of crime scene investigators as a defense mechanism that helps protect them from the detrimental effects of their work conditions and allows them to continue to perform their work duties.

Transactional theory of stress and coping

Coping has been studied as both a trait and a process (Lazarus and Folkman, 1991; Stone et al ., 1991). A transactional framework to understand coping as a process, views coping as the activation of responses through thoughts and actions that change over time and depend on specific stressors. Appraisal is an important element in the transactional views on coping whereby individuals make initial meaning of a situation and assess whether it might cause harm to them as well as the evaluation of coping resources available to manage the stressful experience. These are referred to as primary and secondary appraisals in the process of coping (Folkman and Lazarus, 1991; Lazarus and Folkman, 1987). Furthermore, transactional views of coping maintain that coping depends on context and will change over time and change based on conditions of stress.

Given that police recruits are vetted based on psychological fitness before entering training academies and that their reactions to academy stress may change over the duration of their training, the transactional theory of coping provides a framework from which to view changes in the use of humor as a coping strategy for police recruits. Prior investigation into changes in coping styles throughout the police academy and their influence on job confidence have similarly viewed stress and coping as a transactional process based on the possible changes in primary and secondary appraisals that may take place throughout training (McCarty and Lawrence, 2016).

Present study

The present study will examine changes in emotional distress and use of humor as a coping strategy between the beginning of police academy training and police academy graduation. It is expected that recruits will report greater levels of emotional distress at training academy completion compared to their emotional distress at baseline and will use humor as a coping strategy at greater levels upon training academy completion compared to their use of humor at baseline. Further, this study will investigate the relationship between the use of humor as a coping strategy and emotional distress among police recruits at the end of their police academy training experience. It is expected that greater levels of humor as a coping strategy among will be associated with lower levels of emotional distress among recruits at academy completion.

Additionally, the relationship between perceived level of discipline in the police academy and emotional distress will be examined and it is expected that greater harshness in academy discipline style will be associated with greater emotional distress among recruits. Finally, this study will examine possible moderating effects of academy discipline on humor and emotional distress.

Methods

Data for this study were derived from a longitudinal survey of police recruits which was conducted as part of the National Police Research Platform, a National Institute of Justice project (2009-2011) (https://www.icpsr.umich.edu/icpsrweb/NACJD/studies/34518). Surveys were collected between 2009 and 2011 from police recruits representing 5 agencies across the United States. Access to data for this study was made possible upon securing approval from the National Archive of Criminal Justice Data and the Institute for Social Research.

Participants

The original dataset included 1,072 police recruits from five participating agencies across the United States. Recruits were asked to participate in a baseline survey on their first day of police academy training and a posttest which was administered within 1 week of academy graduation. The range of time between baseline and posttest varied from 5 to 6 months. Surveys asked recruits about a variety of topics including their backgrounds, views on policing, wellness, and coping. The present study included a subset of recruits who participated in baseline (T1) and posttest (T2) surveys. Recruits met inclusion criteria for the present study if they provided full data on key variables of interest as follows: baseline emotional distress, posttest emotional distress, baseline humor, posttest humor, and harshness of disciplinary style in the academy. Complete data on all key variables at baseline and posttest was provided by 9% of the original study sample. Listwise deletion was used to handle missing data.

Based on inclusion criteria, the final sample consisted of 101 police recruits. Respondents were 14% female and 53% minority officers with 23% identifying as Black/African American and 25% identifying as Latino. The average age of respondents was 30 with the age of recruits ranging from 24 to 43 years of age. Approximately 57% had received a college degree or higher. Regarding relationship status, approximately 31% were in a relationship, with 23% being in a marital relationship. Results of chi-square tests indicated that the present study sample (N = 101) was significantly different in terms of race/ethnicity, relationship status, and education status compared to the original sample (N = 1,072). The present study sample was comprised of more minority officers than the original sample (53% vs. 30%), fewer were in a relationship (31% vs. 42%), and recruits in the final sample were significantly more educated (57% college degree or higher vs. 45%) than the original sample.

Measures

Emotional distress

Emotional distress was measured using six items to reflect feeling depressed, stressed, and worried, as well as the inability to focus. Items are similar to an existing, widely used, validated measure of symptoms of depression that has been utilized in police samples (Darensburg et al ., 2006; Radloff, 1977). Respondents were asked about their agreement with feeling depressed or blue; feeling relaxed and handling stress well; worrying a lot; being emotionally stable and not easily upset; being moody; and being easily distracted. Response options ranged from 1 = strongly agree to 5 = strongly disagree on a Likert-type scale. Items were coded such that higher scores reflected greater emotional distress compared to lower scores. A composite measure was created with possible scores ranging from 1 to 5. The Cronbach’s alpha for pretest emotional distress was .72 and the Cronbach’s alpha for posttest emotional distress was .74.

Humor

Humor was measured using seven items to reflect use of humor as a coping strategy. Items were similar to a subset of a previously existing, widely used measure of the construct (Thorson and Powell, 1993). Respondents were asked about their agreement with using humor to ease tense situations; finding something funny in most situations; humor helps me cope; coping by humor is a way of adapting; use of humor puts me at ease; and use of wit or humor helps me adapt to many situations. Response options ranged from 1 = strongly agree to 5 = strongly disagree on a Likert-type scale. Items were coded such that higher scores reflected greater use of humor for coping. A composite measure was created with possible scores ranging from 1 to 5. The Cronbach’s alpha for pretest humor was .93 and the Cronbach’s alpha for posttest humor was .94.

Harshness of academy discipline style

A single item was used to assess perceived discipline style in the academy. Respondents were asked, ‘How would you judge the severity of discipline at the training academy?’ Response options ranged from 1 = extremely harsh to 4 = not at all harsh on a Likert-type scale. This item was coded such that higher scores reflected greater levels of perceived harshness.

Demographic variables

Five demographic variables reflecting cadet characteristics were examined to include age, gender, race/ethnicity, education level, and relationship status. Age was measured as a continuous variable. Gender was assessed using a dichotomous measure where 0 = male, 1 = female. Race/ethnicity was measured using self-reports from participants. A set of three dichotomous variables (coded 0 and 1) were used to contrast race/ethnicity categories of African American, Hispanic, and Asian, against the reference group, White. The current sample did not contain recruits who identified as Native American or Other. Education level was self-reported by participants and a highest education variable was created where 1 = GED to 5 = Master’s degree, law degree, PhD or other advanced degree. Relationship status was assessed using a dichotomous measure where 0 = currently in a relationship and 1 = not currently in a relationship.

Analytic approach

The analytic plan for this study included zero-order correlations of major study variables, descriptive statistics, paired-sample t-tests, and multiple regression analyses. Descriptive statistics were used to assess average levels of emotional distress and use of humor as a coping strategy among the sample of recruits. Paired-sample t-test analyses were employed to examine how emotional distress and use of humor change over the course of the academy experience and hierarchical regression analyses were utilized to examine the relationship between humor, academy harshness, and emotional distress among recruits.

Results

Preliminary analyses were carried out to include descriptive statistic and zero-order correlations of major study variables. The mean emotional distress score at the beginning of the academy was 2.10 (SD = 0.57), with scores ranging from 1.00 to 4.33. Emotional distress scores at academy completion ranged from 1.00 to 3.50 with a mean of 2.20 (SD = 0.54). The mean score for use of humor as a coping strategy at the beginning of the academy was 3.66 (SD = 0.70) with a range of 2.00 to 5.00. Use of humor as a coping strategy at academy completion ranged from 2.43 to 5.00 with a mean score of 3.78 (SD = 0.65). Academy harshness of disciplinary style scores ranged from 1.00 to 4.00 with a mean of 2.47 (SD = 0.69). Descriptive statistics for major study variables are shown in Table 1. Zero-order correlations are presented in Table 2.

Table 1.
Sample descriptives.

Characteristic Mean SD N %

Age 29.67 4.05

Gender

Female 14 14.0

Male 86 86.0

Race/Ethnicity

Black 23 23.0

Hispanic/Latino 25 25.0

White 47 47.0

Asian 5 5.0

Highest Education Level

High school or some college 25 25.0

Associate Degree 18 18.0

College Degree/Some beyond college 51 51.0

Graduate/Advanced Degree 6 6.0

Relationship Status

Currently in relationship 31 31.3

Not in a relationship 68 68.7

Emotional Distress (T1) 2.10 0.57

Emotional Distress (T2) 2.20 0.54

Humor (T1) 3.66 0.70

Humor (T2) 3.78 0.65

Academy Harshness 2.47 0.69

Note. N = 101.

Table 2.
Zero-order correlations.

Variables 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

1. Age —

2. Gender −.02 —

3. White −.20* .09 —

4. Black .18 −.33 −.52 —

5. Latino .08 .23* −.54 −.32 —

6. Asian −.06 −.04 −.22* −.13 −.13 —

7. Highest Educ. −.04 −.15 .13 .16 −.23** −.05 —

8. Relation. Status .23* −.10 −.03 −.05 .01 .14 .06 —

9. Emotional Distress (T1) −.07 .03 .11 .06 −.19 .01 −.10 −.24* —

10. Emotional Distress (T2) −.04 .04 .12 −.01 −.15 .07 −.10 −.12 .42** —

11. Humor (T1) −.19 .23* −.04 .12 −.21* .26 .06 .04 .11 −.12 —

12. Humor (T2) −.13 .17 −.01 .15 −.11 −.07 −.01 −.03 .09 −.31 .63** —

13. Academy Harshness .05 .10 .10 −.06 −.12 .11 −.01 .08 −.22* −.19 .05 .01 —

Note. *p < .05, **p < .01.

Changes in emotional distress and use of humor

Paired samples t-tests were conducted to compare changes in emotional distress and use of humor as a coping strategy between the beginning of the police academy and completion of the police academy. There was no statistically significant difference in emotional distress from the beginning of the academy (M = 2.10, SD = 0.57) to completion of the academy (M = 2.20, SD = 0.54); t (100) = −1.62, p = .108. A statistically significant difference was found in use of humor as a coping strategy from the beginning of the academy (M = 3.66, SD = 0.70) to completion of the academy (M = 3.78, SD = 0.65); t (100) = −2.13, p = .036. Results of paired samples t-test are provided in Table 3.

Table 3.
Paired samples test.

Baseline Graduation

Variable Mean SD Mean SD t-test

Emotional Distress 2.10 0.57 2.20 0.54 −1.62

Humor 3.66 0.70 3.78 0.65 −2.13*

Note. N = 101, p < .05.

Predictors of emotional distress at academy completion

Prior to examining predictors of emotional distress at academy completion, multiple regression analysis was used to explore factors associated with use of humor as a coping strategy at academy completion. Baseline humor (T1) was associated with an increase in use of posttest humor (T2) (B = 0.55, p < .001). Greater posttest emotional distress (T2) was associated with lower posttest humor (T2) (B = −0.36, p < .01) and identifying as Asian, compared to White recruits, was also associated with less use of humor as a coping strategy (B = −0.58, p < .05). The linear combination of predictors accounted for 50% of the variance in posttest humor (T2), R² = 0.50, adjusted R² = 0.44.

A five model hierarchical multiple regression was conducted to determine if the use of humor as a coping strategy and level of harshness in academy discipline style predicted cadet emotional distress upon academy completion while controlling for baseline emotional distress and baseline use of humor, as well as cadet demographic characteristics. The null hypotheses tested were that R² was equal to 0 and that the regression coefficients were equal to 0. All tests were conducted at α = .05.

In Model 1 results showed that baseline emotional distress was associated with an increase in emotional distress at academy completion (B = 0.40, p < .001). Emotional distress at baseline explained 18% of the variance in emotional distress at academy completion. In Model 2, the addition of humor (T1) did not significantly explain additional variance in emotional distress at academy completion (B = 0.05, p = .57). However, humor (T2) was associated with a decrease in emotional distress at academy completion (B = −0.32, p < .001) when controlling for baseline emotional distress and baseline humor. Model 2 explained an additional 12% of variance in emotional distress at academy completion. Model 3 results showed the addition of harshness of academy discipline style was not significantly associated with emotional distress at academy completion (B = −0.09, p = .19). In Model 4, recruit demographic characteristics were added. Recruit age (B = −0.01, p = .57); gender (B = 0.22, p = .17); relationship status (B = −0.01, p = .94); and highest level of education (B = −0.08, p = .17) were not significantly associated with emotional distress at academy completion. Likewise, recruit race/ethnicity was not significantly associated with the outcome to include: Black (B = 0.06, p = .68), Hispanic (B = −0.24, p = .06), and Asian (B = −0.04, p = .88).

Model 5 tested whether the association between humor and emotional distress was moderated by harshness of academy discipline style. As results indicate in Table 3, the level of harshness of academy discipline did not significantly moderate the relationship between use of humor as a coping strategy and emotional distress upon academy completion (B = 0.10, p = .36). The linear combination of predictors accounted for 36% of the variance in emotional distress (T2) at the end of academy training, R² = 0.36, adjusted R² = 0.27. Results of hierarchical regression analyses are provided in Table 4.

Table 4.
Predictors of emotional distress at academy graduation.

Model 1 Model 2 Model 3 Model 4 Model 5

Variable* b SE(B) β b SE(B) β b SE(B) β b SE(B) β b SE(B) β

Emotional Dist. (T1) 0.40 0.09 0.42* 0.42 0.08 0.45* 0.40 0.08 0.42* 0.34 0.09 0.36* 0.36 0.09 0.38*

Humor (T1) 0.05 0.09 0.06 0.06 0.09 0.07 0.01 0.10 0.02 0.03 0.10 0.04

Humor (T2) −0.32 0.10 −0.38 −0.32 0.09 −0.38 −0.33 0.10 −0.39 −0.37 0.10 −0.43**

Harshness −0.09 0.07 −0.12 −0.13 0.07 −0.16 −0.14 0.08 −0.18

Age −0.01 0.01 −0.05 −0.01 0.01 −0.06

Gender 0.22 0.16 0.14 0.22 0.16 0.15

Relationship Status −0.01 0.11 −0.01 −0.01 0.11 −0.01

Highest Education −0.08 0.06 −0.13 −0.08 0.06 −0.13

Black 0.06 0.13 0.04 0.05 0.13 0.04

Hispanic −0.24 0.13 −0.20 −0.24 0.13 −0.20

Asian −0.04 0.27 −0.02 −0.05 0.27 −0.02

HumorHarshness 0.10 0.11 0.09

R ² 0.18 0.30 0.31 0.36 0.36

Adjusted R² 0.17 0.27 0.28 0.27 0.27

R² Change 0.18 0.12 0.01 0.05 0.01

Note. N = 101, p < .05, p < .01, p < .001.

Discussion

Results of paired samples t-tests suggest that academy training did not have a significant effect on changes in levels of emotional distress. Conversely, results indicated that when police recruits are in the academy their use of humor as a coping strategy increases. Overall, results of hierarchical regression analyses indicated that greater levels of use of humor as a coping strategy in the police academy predicted a decrease in emotional distress upon academy graduation for police recruits. Therefore, using humor to adapt to the police academy may be beneficial for the emotional wellness of recruits as they graduate academy training and enter the field of policing.

Contrary to expected findings, while levels of emotional distress slightly increased between the beginning of the academy and graduation, changes were not statistically significant. It could be that recruits experience some level of stress inoculation over the academy training process by which their threshold for the psychological strain of training increases over time. It is also possible that recruits have increased access to mental health supports after becoming affiliated with police organizations such as access to mental health professionals or chaplains which may maintain their overall levels of emotional stress from beginning to end of the academy (Braswell et al ., 2016).

As expected, increases were found in use of humor as a coping strategy between the beginning and end of the police academy. Increased use of humor as a coping strategy among recruits could be attributed to the socialization and camaraderie among recruits throughout the academy experience. While the type of humor used is unable to be derived from the current dataset, it is possible that early introduction into the use of dark humor takes place as early as the training academy. Use of humor may naturally increase toward the end of the academy as recruits become more comfortable in the academy setting and bonded with their peers (Chappell and Lanza-Kaduce, 2010). As graduation approaches, recruits may be more apt to engage in banter and joking with one another. Academy training staff, along with academy training expectations, may soften to some degree once recruits have ‘proven’ their competencies and demonstrated their commitment to the profession. This could allow for more opportunities to use humor as the academy nears completion.

Consistent with expected findings, greater levels of use of humor as a coping strategy upon training completion predicted lower levels of emotional distress at the end of the academy among recruits. Possible explanations for this finding may include increases in group cohesion and group connectedness which are often associated with humor, as well as the possibility that humor provides a sense of normalcy and tension reduction in stressful situations (Moran and Roth, 2013; Vivona, 2014). While biomarkers of stress were not within the scope of the available data, it is possible that the benefits of laughter on the physiological stress response system may play a part in reduction of emotional distress among recruits.

No support was found for the expected relationship between level of harshness of academy discipline style and emotional distress among recruits. Rationale for this non-significant relationship may be that recruits experience a steeling effect, similar to stress inoculation, as a result of training-related stress (Rutter, 2012). The direction of the relationship indicates greater harshness could be a protective factor for emotional distress if tested again with a larger sample. As academy stress accumulates over the duration of the academy, to include harshness in disciplinary styles, recruits may develop a greater threshold for stress and therefore become more resilient to emotional stress. Finally, harsh discipline may coincide, or be indicative of, a highly structured training regimen. Recruits may thrive under rigid structure because of the connection between consistency and psychological safety (Newman et al ., 2017). Despite intense and challenging training, high structure may attenuate academy stress.

Implications

Findings carry implications for recruits, police organizations, and the community. The psychological wellbeing of early career officers may be improved among those who rely on humor as an adaptive coping strategy when managing occupational stress. When recruits are better prepared to manage stress through methods of coping, such as use of humor as a coping strategy, police organizations may benefit from retention of recruits. Likewise, adaptive coping may lead police to have more favorable interactions with the public, benefitting communities and police organizations.

It is recommended that police training include psychoeducational components about stress management and the possible benefits of humor on emotional health when used adaptively. Mental health professionals who work with recruits are similarly encouraged to discuss possible benefits of humor while addressing any potential risks humor may cause if used maladaptively. Police training programs are encouraged to make the academy climate light by incorporating humor whenever appropriate, without compromising the integrity of the training regimen. Training programs should also facilitate group socialization to create opportunities for joking, laughter, and general use of humor among recruits, thereby promoting recruit mental and emotional wellness.

Study limitations

Generalization of findings are cautioned as the present study was limited in sample size and differed from the larger sample on several demographic characteristics to include race/ethnicity, education level, and relationship status. Due to the personal nature of survey questions regarding emotional stress, coupled with the stigma around mental health in the law enforcement subculture, it is possible that social desirability on survey responses masked emotional distress that may have otherwise been detected. The dataset also lacked information on police academy characteristics.

Directions for future research

Future studies on early career emotional health of police should include training academy characteristics to allow for examination of organizational variables of interest. Potential cascading effects of humor into other domains of functioning is worth exploring to determine if use of humor is helpful or harmful outside of the academy. It is possible that humor used at home or within social relationships could be detrimental if used as an avoidant coping strategy when dealing with interpersonal stressors. Longitudinal studies on the role of humor in police stress would enhance understanding of the development of police stress and police humor, and how both change and influence one another over time. Finally, inclusion of biomarker data could provide insight into how the physiological benefits of humor may impact police recruits.

Adaptive coping is important in reducing risks associated with the mental and emotional health of officers. Prior research has demonstrated the unique role of humor in the law enforcement subculture as a useful way for officers to disengage from threatening situations of which they have little or no control (Roth and Vivona, 2010). Present findings demonstrated that greater levels of use of humor as a coping strategy in the police academy predicted a decrease in emotional distress upon academy graduation for police recruits. Promotion of the use humor as a coping strategy for recruits, through training and education, and opportunities for social interaction and group bonding, could help to minimize the impact of academy stress on recruit wellbeing. Furthermore, the use of humor to adapt to work stress may benefit the mental health of early career police officers as they begin their patrol assignments and enter into the high-stress field of policing following academy graduation.

Characteristic	Mean	SD	N	%
Age	29.67	4.05
Gender
Female			14	14.0
Male			86	86.0
Race/Ethnicity
Black			23	23.0
Hispanic/Latino			25	25.0
White			47	47.0
Asian			5	5.0
Highest Education Level
High school or some college			25	25.0
Associate Degree			18	18.0
College Degree/Some beyond college			51	51.0
Graduate/Advanced Degree			6	6.0
Relationship Status
Currently in relationship			31	31.3
Not in a relationship			68	68.7
Emotional Distress (T1)	2.10	0.57
Emotional Distress (T2)	2.20	0.54
Humor (T1)	3.66	0.70
Humor (T2)	3.78	0.65
Academy Harshness	2.47	0.69

Variables	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13
1. Age	—
2. Gender	−.02	—
3. White	−.20*	.09	—
4. Black	.18	−.33**	−.52**	—
5. Latino	.08	.23*	−.54**	−.32**	—
6. Asian	−.06	−.04	−.22*	−.13	−.13	—
7. Highest Educ.	−.04	−.15	.13	.16	−.23**	−.05	—
8. Relation. Status	.23*	−.10	−.03	−.05	.01	.14	.06	—
9. Emotional Distress (T1)	−.07	.03	.11	.06	−.19	.01	−.10	−.24*	—
10. Emotional Distress (T2)	−.04	.04	.12	−.01	−.15	.07	−.10	−.12	.42**	—
11. Humor (T1)	−.19	.23*	−.04	.12	−.21*	.26**	.06	.04	.11	−.12	—
12. Humor (T2)	−.13	.17	−.01	.15	−.11	−.07	−.01	−.03	.09	−.31**	.63**	—
13. Academy Harshness	.05	.10	.10	−.06	−.12	.11	−.01	.08	−.22*	−.19	.05	.01	—

	Baseline	Graduation
Emotional Distress	2.10	0.57	2.20	0.54	−1.62
Humor	3.66	0.70	3.78	0.65	−2.13*

	Model 1	Model 2	Model 3	Model 4	Model 5
Emotional Dist. (T1)	0.40	0.09	0.42***	0.42	0.08	0.45***	0.40	0.08	0.42***	0.34	0.09	0.36***	0.36	0.09	0.38***
Humor (T1)				0.05	0.09	0.06	0.06	0.09	0.07	0.01	0.10	0.02	0.03	0.10	0.04
Humor (T2)				−0.32	0.10	−0.38**	−0.32	0.09	−0.38**	−0.33	0.10	−0.39**	−0.37	0.10	−0.43**
Harshness							−0.09	0.07	−0.12	−0.13	0.07	−0.16	−0.14	0.08	−0.18
Age										−0.01	0.01	−0.05	−0.01	0.01	−0.06
Gender										0.22	0.16	0.14	0.22	0.16	0.15
Relationship Status										−0.01	0.11	−0.01	−0.01	0.11	−0.01
Highest Education										−0.08	0.06	−0.13	−0.08	0.06	−0.13
Black										0.06	0.13	0.04	0.05	0.13	0.04
Hispanic										−0.24	0.13	−0.20	−0.24	0.13	−0.20
Asian										−0.04	0.27	−0.02	−0.05	0.27	−0.02
Humor*Harshness													0.10	0.11	0.09
R ²	0.18	0.30	0.31	0.36	0.36
Adjusted R²	0.17	0.27	0.28	0.27	0.27
R² Change	0.18***	0.12**	0.01	0.05	0.01

Footnotes

Data acknowledgement

This research uses data from the National Police Research Platform, Phase 1 [United States] (2009-2011) a project funded by the United States Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, and the National Institute of Justice. Information on how to obtain the National Police Research Platform data is available at . No direct support was received for this analysis.

Declaration of conflicting interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

ORCID iD

Brooke McQuerrey Tuttle

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	Baseline		Graduation
Variable	Mean	SD	Mean	SD	t-test
Emotional Distress	2.10	0.57	2.20	0.54	−1.62
Humor	3.66	0.70	3.78	0.65	−2.13*

	Model 1			Model 2			Model 3			Model 4			Model 5
Variable	b	SE(B)	β	b	SE(B)	β	b	SE(B)	β	b	SE(B)	β	b	SE(B)	β
Emotional Dist. (T1)	0.40	0.09	0.42***	0.42	0.08	0.45***	0.40	0.08	0.42***	0.34	0.09	0.36***	0.36	0.09	0.38***
Humor (T1)				0.05	0.09	0.06	0.06	0.09	0.07	0.01	0.10	0.02	0.03	0.10	0.04
Humor (T2)				−0.32	0.10	−0.38**	−0.32	0.09	−0.38**	−0.33	0.10	−0.39**	−0.37	0.10	−0.43**
Harshness							−0.09	0.07	−0.12	−0.13	0.07	−0.16	−0.14	0.08	−0.18
Age										−0.01	0.01	−0.05	−0.01	0.01	−0.06
Gender										0.22	0.16	0.14	0.22	0.16	0.15
Relationship Status										−0.01	0.11	−0.01	−0.01	0.11	−0.01
Highest Education										−0.08	0.06	−0.13	−0.08	0.06	−0.13
Black										0.06	0.13	0.04	0.05	0.13	0.04
Hispanic										−0.24	0.13	−0.20	−0.24	0.13	−0.20
Asian										−0.04	0.27	−0.02	−0.05	0.27	−0.02
Humor*Harshness													0.10	0.11	0.09
R ²	0.18			0.30			0.31			0.36			0.36
Adjusted R²	0.17			0.27			0.28			0.27			0.27
R² Change	0.18***			0.12**			0.01			0.05			0.01