Peer-reviewed article
Psychological well-being and workability in child abuse investigators
Noreen Tehrani ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study examines the psychological well-being of police officers and staff who work in child abuse investigation roles, rather than the well-being of children themselves. The research surveyed 2,798 child abuse investigators across seven police forces using clinical screening tools to measure anxiety, depression, and trauma symptoms. The findings show relationships between work ability, tenure, and personal history of abuse with psychological symptoms in investigators, but the study is focused on occupational health outcomes for adult workers, not child outcomes.
Key points
- 82% response rate from 2,798 child abuse investigators surveyed
- Significant relationship between workability and all four clinical symptoms measured
- Women investigators showed higher levels of psychological symptoms, particularly primary trauma
- Personal adverse childhood experiences (ACE) scores were associated with anxiety, depression and trauma
- Work ability, tenure and ACE scores explained 12-23% of variance in psychological symptoms
Limitations
This study measures occupational health outcomes for adult workers in child protection roles, not child well-being outcomes. It cannot tell us about the effectiveness of child abuse investigations, how investigated children fare, or what interventions improve outcomes for child abuse victims.
Abstract
Background: Working with victims and offenders of child abuse can impact on the health and well-being of police officers and staff. Aims: To identify the effects of tenure, work ability, gender and a personal experience of child abuse on symptoms of anxiety, depression and primary and secondary trauma in child abuse investigators (CAIs). Methods: Screening questionnaires were sent to police officers and staff. The officers and staff worked in child protection in seven police forces. The surveillance was undertaken online and the data were encrypted and personal identifiers removed. The four clinical measures were Goldberg Anxiety/Depression Scale, Professional Quality of Life and Impact of Events (extended). Results: Eighty-two per cent of 2798 CAIs returned questionnaires. There was a statistically significant relationship between all four clinical symptoms and workability (P < 0.001), between tenure and primary trauma (P < 0.01) and between anxiety, depression, primary trauma and workability and adverse childhood experience (ACE) scores (P < 0.001). Regression analysis showed that workability, tenure and ACE scores explained between 12 and 23% of the variance. There were gender differences with women having higher levels of symptoms; however, the effect size and clinical significance were negligible for all but the primary trauma scores. Conclusions: Psychological surveillance can provide an important source of evidence for occupational health practitioners working with CAIs in informing them of the factors which could be considered in selecting, training, supporting and retaining officers and staff. Psychological surveillance can also help police management to identify ways to monitor the long-term effectiveness and well-being of CAIs.