A University at Buffalo researcher has found that rates of depression and suicidal thoughts among law enforcers vary by gender and by work shift.

In a study outlined in the October edition of the American Journal of Industrial Medicine, UB associate professor John Violanti found that a quarter of female police officers, and nearly as many male officers, assigned to shift work had thought about taking their own lives.

A former member of the New York State Police himself, Violanti and his collaborators, Luenda Charles, Tara Hartley, Anna Mnatsakanova, Michael Andrew, Desta Fekedulegn, Cecil Burchfiel and Bryan Vila, noted that reports of depressive symptoms among police officers were higher than in the general population - 12.5 percent among women and 6.2 percent among men, compared to 5.2 percent in the population at large.

Policewomen who worked mostly day shifts reported having more suicidal thoughts than female colleagues assigned to work afternoons or nights, while the opposite was true for males.

The study involved 115 officers selected randomly from a 935-officer urban police force. Participants answered questionnaires on thoughts of suicide, symptoms of depression and on post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Results showed that among women who had high depression-symptom scores, thoughts of suicide increased 116 percent for every 10 percent increase in time working day shifts. In male officers, suicidal thoughts were higher in those who worked evening and night shifts than in those assigned to the day shift.

"I think women have more to deal with, not only by being a police officer and (perhaps) being away from their children, but by contending with the social isolation and internal operations of police departments," said Violanti.

He plans to study the effects of shift work on these officers, and has received funds from the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health to study the effects of shift work on cancer risk. The current study was funded by a cooperative agreement between NIOSH and the National Institute of Justice, an arm of the U.S. Department of Justice.