Crossfire: the emotional cost of Military Police work.

The affective cost of work was rated as serious to critical among military police officers in the metropolitan region of Rio de Janeiro.

• Cross-sectional study conducted with 446 military police officers of both sexes from 5 military police battalions in Rio de Janeiro.
• The Human Cost at Work Assessment Scale (Escala de Avaliação do Custo Humano no Trabalho) was used to measure affective cost.
• Data were analyzed using SPSS version 13.1.

Serious affective cost of work was statistically significantly associated with medical leave due to bipolar disorder.

• Association between serious affective cost assessment and medical leave due to bipolar disorder was statistically significant (p = 0.035).
• This finding suggests a link between the emotional demands of military police work and serious psychiatric conditions requiring leave.

Serious affective cost of work was statistically significantly associated with cognitive changes in perception, attention, and memory.

• Cognitive changes in perception were significantly associated with serious affective cost (p = 0.009).
• Cognitive changes in attention were associated with serious affective cost (p = 0.053).
• Cognitive changes in memory were significantly associated with serious affective cost (p = 0.015).

Serious affective cost of work was statistically significantly associated with age and length of working time.

• Age was significantly associated with serious affective cost assessment (p < 0.001).
• Working time (length of service) was significantly associated with serious affective cost assessment (p < 0.001).
• Both associations were among the strongest observed in the study based on p-values.

Serious affective cost of work was statistically significantly associated with sleep.

• Sleep was significantly associated with serious affective cost assessment (p < 0.034).
• This association suggests that the emotional burden of military police work may impact or be impacted by sleep quality or disturbances.

The study was conducted using a cross-sectional design with military police officers from multiple battalions in Rio de Janeiro.

• Sample consisted of 446 military police officers of both sexes.
• Officers were recruited from 5 military police battalions in the metropolitan region of Rio de Janeiro.
• A sociodemographic, work and health conditions questionnaire was used alongside the Human Cost at Work Assessment Scale.