Assessing Police Stress in the Philippines during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Does Community Size Matter?

Abstract

This study explores officers’ lived experiences during the pandemic across urban, suburban, and rural settings in the Philippines. It focuses on how the size of the community, personal stress generators, personal stress alleviators, and organizational stress alleviators relate to police officer stress. Our analyses of the answers provided by 5,752 police officers from the Philippines, collected in 2022, reveal a substantial degree of homogeneity with which police officers’ concern for family, emotional exhaustion, and use of alcohol correlate with perceived increases in stress across urban, suburban, and rural contexts. Officers report being less stressed when they participate in more spare-time activities (i.e., spending time with family, using electronic devices, and getting enough sleep). Some organizational stress alleviators (e.g., the perceived organizational success in dealing with the challenges of the pandemic and providing personal protective equipment), only contribute to perceived decreases in stress in rural contexts.