Coping with the toll of child sexual abuse investigations
IntroductionThe policing of child sexual abuse (CSA) can have adverse psychological consequences on police personnel. Though some emerging research has shown a negative impact on quality of life, less is known about the coping strategies used by such professionals when working on CSA cases.MethodsTh...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2025-08-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Psychology |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1584034/full |
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| author | Lauran Easton John Synnott Dara Mojtahedi Maria Ioannou |
| author_facet | Lauran Easton John Synnott Dara Mojtahedi Maria Ioannou |
| author_sort | Lauran Easton |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | IntroductionThe policing of child sexual abuse (CSA) can have adverse psychological consequences on police personnel. Though some emerging research has shown a negative impact on quality of life, less is known about the coping strategies used by such professionals when working on CSA cases.MethodsThe present study surveyed 68 police personnel involved in the investigation and/safeguarding of CSA about their occupational wellbeing (Compassion Satisfaction, Burnout, Secondary Traumatic Stress, and Depression) and coping strategies to work-related stress.ResultsFindings demonstrated that the majority of respondents reported low to moderate levels of negative occupational wellbeing, however, a considerable minority, specifically those using venting, self-blame and behavioural disengagement as coping strategies, reported severe negative mental wellbeing.DiscussionThe findings highlight the need for policing organisations to support personnel in identifying and using healthy coping approaches that do not exacerbate the effects workplace stress. The authors identify the need for future research to identify specific problem-focussed approaches that are effective in mitigating the effects of workplace stress on mental wellbeing. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-179f1529f582408caa7df3d1fe49aeb3 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1664-1078 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-08-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Psychology |
| spelling | doaj-art-179f1529f582408caa7df3d1fe49aeb32025-08-20T03:39:36ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782025-08-011610.3389/fpsyg.2025.15840341584034Coping with the toll of child sexual abuse investigationsLauran Easton0John Synnott1Dara Mojtahedi2Maria Ioannou3Merseyside Police, Liverpool, United KingdomDepartment of Social and Psychological Sciences, University of Huddersfield, Huddersfield, United KingdomDepartment of Social and Psychological Sciences, University of Huddersfield, Huddersfield, United KingdomDepartment of Social and Psychological Sciences, University of Huddersfield, Huddersfield, United KingdomIntroductionThe policing of child sexual abuse (CSA) can have adverse psychological consequences on police personnel. Though some emerging research has shown a negative impact on quality of life, less is known about the coping strategies used by such professionals when working on CSA cases.MethodsThe present study surveyed 68 police personnel involved in the investigation and/safeguarding of CSA about their occupational wellbeing (Compassion Satisfaction, Burnout, Secondary Traumatic Stress, and Depression) and coping strategies to work-related stress.ResultsFindings demonstrated that the majority of respondents reported low to moderate levels of negative occupational wellbeing, however, a considerable minority, specifically those using venting, self-blame and behavioural disengagement as coping strategies, reported severe negative mental wellbeing.DiscussionThe findings highlight the need for policing organisations to support personnel in identifying and using healthy coping approaches that do not exacerbate the effects workplace stress. The authors identify the need for future research to identify specific problem-focussed approaches that are effective in mitigating the effects of workplace stress on mental wellbeing.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1584034/fullpolicingchild sexual abuseinvestigationscopingwellbeingProQOL |
| spellingShingle | Lauran Easton John Synnott Dara Mojtahedi Maria Ioannou Coping with the toll of child sexual abuse investigations Frontiers in Psychology policing child sexual abuse investigations coping wellbeing ProQOL |
| title | Coping with the toll of child sexual abuse investigations |
| title_full | Coping with the toll of child sexual abuse investigations |
| title_fullStr | Coping with the toll of child sexual abuse investigations |
| title_full_unstemmed | Coping with the toll of child sexual abuse investigations |
| title_short | Coping with the toll of child sexual abuse investigations |
| title_sort | coping with the toll of child sexual abuse investigations |
| topic | policing child sexual abuse investigations coping wellbeing ProQOL |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1584034/full |
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