Abstract
Police officers are a unique subdivision of helping professionals who put their lives on the line to serve and protect their communities. Along with potential physical dangers that are inherent to police work, officers possess an increased risk of developing issues related to mental health such as depression and burnout. Previous research has shown that there are both organizational and individual factors that can increase or decrease officers' likelihood of developing work-related mental health issues. The purpose of the present study was to identify individual risk and protective factors that are relevant to police officers in the development of burnout and depression. Participants included police officers from 23 different states throughout the United States (N = 277). Participants ranged in age between 22 and 69 with a mean age of 40.63 (N = 269, SD = 9.95). Results suggested that perception of autonomy, competence, and relatedness in the workplace acted as protective factors against developing burnout. Intrinsic motivation also protected against the development of burnout whereas extrinsic motivation had no significant relationship with burnout. Performance-based self-esteem (PBSE) was found to be significantly related to burnout, indicating a possible risk factor. A reciprocal relationship was found between burnout and depression in which higher levels of burnout are related to higher levels of depression and vice versa. Finally, having higher global self-esteem was found to be a protective factor against depression whereas lower global self-esteem was identified as a risk factor for depression.