Perception of Health, Resilience, and Engagement in Spanish Police Officers During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Background: During the COVID-19 pandemic, the police force was one of the institutions that was most exposed to possible infections, in addition to suffering stressful situations that affect health. This study aims to independently assess the relationship between demographic, work, and COVID-19 variables, and resilience, engagement, and the perception of health, as well as to evaluate which variables are more important when predicting health perceptions. Method: 640 Spanish police officers were evaluated through a cross-sectional design and online survey. Results: The perception of the lack of personal protective equipment, believing that it is easy to become infected with COVID-19, or working as a police officer were associated with low levels of engagement and resilience and a worse perception of health. More years of experience in the police force was associated with worse health and lower levels of engagement and resilience. Engagement and resilience would be protective variables of health. Conclusions: It is necessary to promote practices related to engagement and resilience in the police force. The discussion emphasizes that more experienced police officers demonstrate less engagement and resilience. Keywords: Resilience; engagement; health; police; COVID-19 pandemic. Salud Percibida, Resiliencia y Compromiso en Policias Espanoles Durante la Pandemia por COVID-19. Antecedentes: durante la pandemia por COVID-19, el colectivo policial ha sido uno de los mas expuestos a posibles contagios, ademas de sufrir situaciones estresantes que afectan a la salud. Esta investigacion tiene como objetivo evaluar independientemente la relacion entre las variables demograficas, del trabajo y COVID-19, y la resiliencia, el engagement y la percepcion sobre la salud, asi como evaluar que variables tienen mas peso a la hora de predecir la percepcion sobre la salud. Metodo: se evalud a 640 policias espanoles mediante un diseno transversal y encuesta online. Resultados: la falta de equipos de proteccion individual, creer que es facil infectarse por COVID-19 o trabajar como agente se asocian a niveles bajos de engagement y resiliencia y peor percepcion de la salud. El aumento en los anos de experiencia en el cuerpo policial se asocia a peor salud y a bajos niveles de engagement y resiliencia. El engagement y la resiliencia serian variables protectoras de la salud. Conclusiones: es necesario fomentar practicas relacionadas con el engagement y la resiliencia en el colectivo po