EXPLORING THE CONSEQUENCES OF PANDEMIC-COMPOUNDED OCCUPATIONAL STRESSORS ON THE MENTAL HEALTH BURDEN OF FRONTLINE SOCIETAL LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS IN INDIA

Law enforcement ofcers have engaged in rigorous pandemic-induced occupational roles in India. Relying on a survey of 240 ofcers, we explore the consequences of pandemic-related occupational stressors on mental health burden (anxiety, stress, and depression) and examine the effect of stressors on their perceptions and behaviors by employing the Health Information Assessment questionnaire, the Brief Symptom Inventory - BSI18 (BSI Depression & BSI Anxiety Scales) to measure self-reported psychological distress, and the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) to assess general stress appraisal. We report rather high scores for depression (74.4 ± 11.6), anxiety (68.2±18.4) and perceived stress (30.6±8.3). Two-thirds of the respondents (66.7%) were highly disturbed about the COVID-19 pandemic. Freshers and juniors exhibited increased levels of anxiety as compared to the seniors while females reported signicantly higher levels of stress than males. Looking for valid COVID-19 information was also associated with increased level of anxiety. Pandemic-compounded occupational stressors seemed to exacerbate pre-existing disenchantment with work, lack of motivation and stressful long hours of working. An urgent need exists for rapid, responsive programming and research to institute workplace interventions at systemic and structural levels to support law enforcement ofcials to avoid and mitigate the mental health consequences of pandemic-compounded occupational stress.