Wellbeing and professional quality of life in police officers: Past adverse childhood experiences and current cognitive emotion regulation strategies

The present study compared the influence of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and Cognitive Emotion Regulation Strategies (CERS), on wellbeing and professional quality of life variables, including Burnout, Compassion Fatigue (CF) and Compassion Satisfaction (CS) in Police Officers (POs) versus a community sample. POs reported lower wellbeing, higher burnout and more ACEs. Maladaptive CERS were associated with low wellbeing, CS, elevated burnout and CF in both samples, while adaptive CERS were associated with enhanced wellbeing and better professional quality of life only in POs. Findings indicate the need to tailor prevention and intervention efforts, considering these vulnerabilities and protective factors.