The Efficacy of Emotion-Regulation Skills Training in Students of Police University

Police officers are routinely exposed to situations that elicit intense negative emotions; thus, officers have a particularly strong need for effective methods of regulating such emotions. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether can improve the emotion-regulation skills of police officers.
The statistical population of this study compromised all the students of Police University. Among them, a total of 30 people were selected using stratified random sampling. To achieve the study objective, the Persian version of ERSQ and Negative and Positive Affect.
Results indicate that, compared to controls, officers have difficulties in accepting and tolerating negative emotions, supporting themselves in distressing situations, and confronting emotionally challenging situations. The training significantly enhanced successful skill application, especially some skills with which officers reported difficulty applying.
Based on results obtained from the research, a focus on emotion-regulation skills may be an important component for programs aimed at preventing mental-health problems in police officers.