@2024 Afarand., IRAN

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ISSN: 2383-3483    Journal of Police Medicine 2019;8(3):131-136

Background
... [1]. International studies show that symptoms, pressures and psychological problems in military and police forces are far higher than other occupations in the community ... [2].
Previous Studies
... [3-13]. In a research entitled "Depression in Iran”, using research tools a systematic review was done on studies done on depression in Iran. A total of 44 articles in Persian and 12 English articles published between 2000 and 2009 in international and Iranian scientific and research journals were reviewed. Based on their findings, the prevalence of depression in different Iranian populations varied from 5.69% to 73%, and depression in women was more than that of men ... [14]. ... [15]. Forootani [3], in his research entitled “Depression in Higher Education Students”, found that the prevalence of depression among students living in dormitories was 42.5%, and also 41.2% of girls and 45.9% of boys had a level of depression. Amani et al. [16] in another study entitled "Prevalence of depression among students in Ardabil University of medical sciences" concluded that among the studied sample (324 students), 186 sample (57.4%) showed a level of depression and 126 sample (64%) suffered from clinical depression. ... [17-19].
Aim(s)
The purpose of this study was to investigate the factors and their levels affecting the depression of Police Force employees in Sanandaj city.
Research type
This research is descriptive correlational study.
Research society, place and time
The present study was conducted among all NAJA employees workinh in Sanandaj in 2017-2018.
Sampling method and number
The number of samples was calculated 162 subjects based on the Cochran formula and 180 subjects were selected by relative random stratified method [20].
Used devices&materials
Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), NEO Personality Inventory (NEO PI-R) and demographic characteristics questionnaires were used for data collection. Demographic characteristics questionnaire: it included occupational branch, educational level, age, place of residence, marital status and monthly income. BDI: … [21]. Reliability and validity of the questionnaire were confirmed in previous studies [22]. NEO PI-R: In the short-term retest method, the coefficients for the five factors were 0.86, 0.65, 0.78, 0.82 and 0.84, respectively. To assess the validity of this scale, the correlation coefficients for each of the factors were 0.70, 0.72, 0.71, 0.41 and 0.75, respectively [23]. After obtaining the necessary permissions from the Kurdistan Police Force and the ethical confirmation of the research in the Sanjadj NAJA Applied Research Office, for sampling, each branch was considered as a class and the needed staff members were randomly selected from each class. After explaining the goals of the research and obtaining informed written consent, the questionnaires were distributed among the individuals. After analyzing and confirming the regression pre-tests, the data were analyzed by SPSS 19 using multiple regression analysis.
Findings by Text
124 subjects (68.9%) had no depression, 22 subjects (12.2%) had mild depression, 25 subjects (13.9%) had moderate depression and 9 subjects (5%) had severe depression (Table 1).Age (p=0.001; t=9.00; β= 0.05), type of residence (p <0.001, T=3.28, β=0.18) and marital status (p <0.001; t=4.46; β=0.24) positively and also monthly income (P<0.001, T=-5.50; β =-0.30) negatively predicted the rate of depression in NAJA staff. Externality (P=0.001, T=-3.38; β=-0.32), conscientiousness (p<0.02, T=-2.27; β=-0.18) and agreeableness (p<0.03; T=-2.27; β=-0.18) negatively and also neuroticism (P=0.001; T=0.31; β=0.23), openness to experience (P=0.001, T=3.16, β=0.25) were positively predictive of depression in NAJA staff.
Main comparison to the similar studies
The results showed that 31.1% of NAJA employees had a level of depression. 12.2% had mild depression, 13.9% had moderate depression and 5% had severe depression. The findings of this study are consistent with some other studies [24, 25]. Ildar Abad et al. study on the prevalence of depression among students of Zabol University of Medical Sciences, concluded that 64.3% of students had a level of depression. The mean of depression scores in nursing students was 10.5-16.1, in midwifery students was 8.9-19.5, in the students of Family Health was 5.8-8.7, which according to the one-way ANOVA, the difference between mean depression score of students was significant [26]. ..[27-29] ...... [30, 22]. … [31]. Fallah et al. in a study entitled “Prevalence of Depression in Zanjan University of Medical Sciences staff”, found that 40% of the staff had a level of depression. 23% of employees had mild depression, 13% had moderate depression and 4% had severe or very severe depression and the relationship between depression and education, type of residence and place of residence were significant [32]. Moreover, in the present study, the results of regression analysis showed that all components of personality traits were able to predict depression and this finding is consistent with the findings of other studies [33-35].
Suggestions
It is suggested that other studies be done in different cities and structured clinical interviews be taken into consideration along with other screening tools.
Limitations
Studying the staff of the police force can restrict generalization of findings to other employees and the rest of the administrative groups.
Conclusions
All personality traits (neuroticism, extraversion, openness to experience, agreeableness and conscientiousness) and factors such as age, type of residence, marital status and income level affect depression of police officers.
Acknowledgments
The authors are grateful to the Office of Applied Research of Police Force of Kurdistan and all Sanandaj Police Officers who have honestly helped us in this research.
Conflict of interest
None declared.
Ethical Permissions
The present study is based on a research supported by the Office of Applied Research of Police Force of Kurdistan (approval code: 396020295).
Funding Sources
This study was supported by authors.

TABLES and CHARTS

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