Effort-reward imbalance and overcommitment showed consistent associations with mental health and occupational functioning in policing, and these associations did not differ between sworn officers and civilian employees.
Higher effort-reward imbalance ratio was significantly associated with greater anxiety and depressive symptoms among police employees.
Higher effort-reward imbalance ratio was associated with lower occupational functioning, including reduced work engagement and job-related self-efficacy.
Overcommitment showed stronger associations with anxiety and depressive symptoms than the ERI ratio itself.
No significant differences were found between sworn police officers and civilian employees in ERI variables, mental health outcomes, or occupational functioning.
Occupational role (sworn officer vs. civilian) did not moderate the associations between ERI variables and mental health or occupational functioning outcomes.
The study had a low response rate, with 560 out of 4000 invited employees participating.
This research suggests that the stress experienced by police workers when their efforts at work are not adequately rewarded — a concept called effort-reward imbalance — is meaningfully linked to poorer mental health and reduced ability to function effectively at work. Specifically, police employees who felt they were putting in more effort than they were getting back in terms of pay, recognition, or job security reported more anxiety, more depression, less enthusiasm for their work, and lower confidence in their own job abilities. A related factor called 'overcommitment' — a tendency to become excessively absorbed in work and unable to disengage — showed even stronger links to anxiety and depression than the imbalance itself. Importantly, this research suggests that these patterns were essentially the same for both sworn police officers (those with law enforcement powers) and civilian employees (administrative and support staff). Contrary to assumptions that might lead researchers to focus primarily on officers, civilian staff experienced similar levels of work stress and similar relationships between that stress and their mental health. This finding challenges the existing research gap in which civilians in policing have largely been overlooked. The study was conducted in the Norwegian police service, which operates within a strong welfare-state context with significant labor protections, and had a relatively low response rate of about 14%, which may limit how broadly the findings can be generalized. Nevertheless, the results support the broader Effort-Reward Imbalance model as applicable to policing environments, and suggest that organizational efforts to address work stress — such as improving recognition, career opportunities, and reward systems — may benefit all police employees, not just sworn officers.
Lau B, Fostervold K, Bjørkelo B. (2026). The effort-reward imbalance model in policing: associations with mental health and work functioning among sworn and civilian employees.. International archives of occupational and environmental health. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00420-026-02231-5