Shiftwork and psychosocial stress in the local police officers of Madrid

Certain jobs, such as the Local Police, have to be available to the citizen at all times; as a result, shiftwork is necessary to ensure this permanent service. The aim of this paper is to know the psychosocial stress risk level (Decore Questionnaire of evaluation of psychosocial risks) and the perceived work stress (Social Work Stress Appreciation Scale) in shift work, in a group of 462 local police officers of the Madrid Community (Spain). The results show that all the workers are at the alert level or over in all psychosocial risks (except in demands and rewards) being the rotational morning-night shift the most adverse from the psychosocial point of view. Regarding perceived work stress, fixed night shift workers show less stress than the rotational morning-night shift workers. Finally, the study limitations are indicated and some recommendations are suggested for future research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: journal abstract)