Occupational Stress among Nigerian Police Officers: An Examination of the Coping Strategies and the Consequences

Abstract

The study was conducted to examine the stress associated with policing in Nigeria, the strategies for coping with stress and the outcomes. A total number of 300 police officers randomly selected participated in the survey. The participants responded to Work Stress Inventory (WSI). They also responded to self- report scale on the use of alcohol, smoking, religiousity and seeking for professional help to cope with stress. Multiple Regression analysis was run to test four hypothesis. Results indicated that Police officers who experienced stress took to alcohol drinking, tobacco smoking, and religiousity to cope with stress. Moreover, the result showed that Police officers would not seek for professional help to cope with their stress. The study discussed the possible effects of these coping strategies on the wellbeing, and performance of police officers and also offered recommendations.

Keywords: Stress, alcohol, smoking, religiousity