The overall aim of this study was to develop and evaluate a resilience training program designed specifically to help new-recruit police officers mitigate stress reactions and the use of drugs and alcohol. The objectives were a pointed response to the current information gap in the existing literature.
There were four specific project objectives:
1. Undertake a literature review of the national and international evidence in relation to pre-event interventions designed to mitigate psychological stress reactions following exposure to a stressful event.
2. Design a pre-event intervention designed to mitigate psychological stress reactions following exposure to a stressful event.
3. Trial the pre-event intervention (resilience training) with a population at high risk of being exposed to a stressful event (police officers).
4. Collect pre-intervention, post-intervention and follow-up data as a means of evaluating the effectiveness of the intervention.