How do recruits and superintendents perceive the problem of suicide in the Italian State Police?
Authors
Cinzia Grassi, Antonio Del Casale, Stefano Ferracuti, Petri Cucè, Roberto Santorsa, Andrea Pelliccione, Gemma Marotta, Giuseppe Tavella, Roberto Tatarelli, Paolo Girardi, Chiara Rapinesi, Georgios D. Kotzalidis, Maurizio Pompili
Abstract
Background. Suicide in international police is 2-3-fold that of the general population. Risk factors include suicidal ideation, diagnosis of mood or post-traumatic stress disorders, family/psychological problems, suffered abuse, alcohol use, service suspension, and stigma. A false stigma-related myth is to believe that suicide does not cause concern within military settings. Methods. We administered post-training to 6,103 Italian Police workers a 30-item questionnaire to assess the perception of suicidal phenomena. We conducted descriptive statistics and principal component analysis (PCA). Results. PCA identified six main areas, i.e., interest and multifactoriality; need for new preventive interventions; emotional reaction to suicide; utility of current preventive interventions; indifference and minimization; intervention difficulties. Conclusions. The questionnaire showed content validity and consistency in investigating perceptions about suicide in the State Police. Data synthesis showed a mature approach and appropriate perception of the suicide problem on behalf of Italian State Police workers.
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