The effect of mindfulness-based interventions on stress and mental health outcomes among police officers: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Gaskin, Jennifer, Li, Wendy Wen, van Eijk, Liza, and Sarnyai, Zoltan (2025) The effect of mindfulness-based interventions on stress and mental health outcomes among police officers: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Police Practice and Research, 27 (1). pp. 131-163.
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Abstract
The high demands of policing frequently result in stress, negatively impacting police officers’ mental health. Mindfulness-Based Interventions (MBIs) have been increasingly recognised as effective for reducing stress in police. The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to evaluate the effectiveness of MBIs on stress and mental health outcomes in police. Eleven studies were included, with a total of 967 participants. Both within- and between-group analyses demonstrated small to moderate effects of MBIs for reducing overall stress and improving mental health at post-intervention. These effects endured at follow-up for within-group comparisons. Between-group analyses showed MBIs had a small effect on overall mental health at follow-up in comparison to the control groups, however no significant effects on overall stress were detected at follow-up. MBIs may have a positive cumulative impact on stress and mental health, providing preliminary support for policing organisations to integrate MBIs into existing occupational health policy frameworks.
| Item ID: | 88401 |
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| Item Type: | Article (Research - C1) |
| ISSN: | 1477-271X |
| Keywords: | mental health, meta-analysis, mindfulness interventions, Police, stress, systematic review |
| Copyright Information: | © 2025 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. The terms on which this article has been published allow the posting of the Accepted Manuscript in a repository by the author(s) or with their consent. |
| Date Deposited: | 16 Apr 2026 05:37 |
| FoR Codes: | 52 PSYCHOLOGY > 5203 Clinical and health psychology > 520302 Clinical psychology @ 100% |
| SEO Codes: | 23 LAW, POLITICS AND COMMUNITY SERVICES > 2304 Justice and the law > 230404 Law enforcement @ 100% |
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