This study aims to examine the association between emotion regulation, the psychological health at work (PHW) and secondary traumatic stress (STS) of child sexual and physical exploitation investigators (CSPEIs).
A path analysis model was tested with 73 Quebec CSPEIs. The instruments included the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS), the STS subscale of the professional quality of life scale – 5 (ProQOL) and the questionnaire on workplace psychological distress (WPD) and psychological well-being at work (PWBW).
The path analysis model revealed that the DERS explains 31.40% of the variance of the STS, 36.5% of the variance of the WPD and 20.9% of the variance of the PWBW. These results indicate that fewer emotion dysregulation is associated with better PHW. Few studies have examined these links in a population of investigators specialized in child sexual crimes.
This study therefore offers an innovative contribution to the understanding of psychological health among those working in contexts with a high emotional charge. The results support the importance of implementing emotion regulation training in police environments in order to prevent psychological distress among these workers and to improve their well-being at work. A better understanding of these skills can lead to effective prevention strategies, thereby improving the quality of life of professionals and the safety of society.
