Impact of Psychological Intervention on Occupational Stress among Police Personnel

Occupational stress has become an important psychological concern among armed forces personnel due to the challenging nature of their profession. Personnel working in uniformed services are exposed to prolonged duty hours, operational risks, emergency situations, organizational pressures, and continuous responsibility for maintaining security and law enforcement. These occupational demands may contribute to increased psychological stress and may affect professional functioning and personal well-being. The present study aimed to examine the effectiveness of structured counselling and Jacobson’s Progressive Muscle Relaxation (JPMR) technique in reducing occupational stress among armed forces personnel. A quantitative pre-experimental research design using one-group pre-test and post-test methodology was adopted. The sample consisted of 150 non-gazetted of Rajasthan Police personnel, selected through availability sampling. Occupational stress was assessed using the Police Stress Questionnaire (PSQ) developed by McCreary and Thompson (2006), consisting of Operational Stress (PSQ-Op) and Organizational Stress (PSQ-Org) dimensions. Participants received a four-week intervention programme consisting of structured group counselling and JPMR training with eight sessions. The results revealed a significant reduction in occupational stress after the intervention. Operational stress decreased from pre-test mean score 87.90 to post-test mean score 73.30. Organizational stress reduced from 84.10 to 70.60, and total occupational stress decreased from 172.00 to 144.00. Paired sample t-test results showed significant differences between pre-test and post-test scores (p < .001). The effect size indicated a strong impact of the intervention on occupational stress reduction. The study concludes that counselling combined with Jacobson’s Progressive Muscle Relaxation is an effective psychological intervention for managing occupational stress among armed forces personnel. The findings emphasize the importance of integrating psychological stress management programmes within uniformed services.