Abstract：Objectives To understand the psychological state and behavior of officers and soldiers in an armed police force, to explore their characteristics and related factors, and to provide evidence for necessary psychological counseling. Methods Self-reporting Inventory (SCL-90), Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ) and Trait Coping Style Questionnaire (TCSQ) were adopted to investigate the psychological state of 595 officers and soldiers from an armed police force by cluster sampling method in May, 2015. Results A total of 595 valid questionnaires were obtained from males in the study. The age of the studied population spanned from 16 to 37 years, averaged (21.08±2.85)years . The year of military service spanned from 0 to 17 years, averaged (1.77±2.45)years. The SCL-90 and factor scores were all significantly lower than those in the national serviceman norm (P<0.05), except for hostility and somatization. No significantly statistical differences were found among groups with different educational levels, between the only child group/non-only child group, or among groups of various marital status (P>0.05). The SCL-90 and factor scores in 16-20 years of age group were all higher than those in 21-25 years of age group and >25 years of age group. The SCL-90 score and scores of factors except obsessive-compulsive, interpersonal sensitivity, depression and hostility were statistically different among various age groups (P<0.05). The SCL-90 and factor scores in the group with <1 year military service were higher than the groups with 1-5 years and >5 years military service, and were statistically different among various age groups (P<0.05). The score of psychoticism of the EPQ was significantly higher than that of the Chinese soldier norm, while the introversion-extroversion score was significantly lower than that of the Chinese soldier norm (P<0.05). No statistical differences were found between only child group and non-only child group, among groups of different marital status, age and year of military service(P＞0.05), while differences were found among groups with different educational levels and positions(P<0.05). The TCSQ score was significantly higher than that of the norm of healthy people (P<0.05). Statistically differences were not found among groups of different marital status, age or between only child group and non-only child group, while were found among groups with different educational levels and positions (P<0.05). Negative coping strategies were related to each factor of SCL-90. Positive coping scores in TCSQ were negatively correlated with the P, N and L scores in EPQ, while positively correlated with the E score in EPQ. Negative coping scores in TCSQ were positively correlated with the P and N scores in EPQ, while negatively correlated with E and L scores in EPQ. The differences were all statistically significant. Conclusions The officers and soldiers of the armed police force in the study have good psychological conditions. More is needed to done to improve their mental health according to different personalities, symptoms and coping strategies.
2017, Vol. 24 
