Law Enforcement Officer Burnout and Marital Satisfaction: An Examination of Emotional Processes

Emotion-related processes are a pivotal piece in establishing a holistic evaluation of interpersonal and intrapersonal outcomes due to stress. These processes are especially relevant for law enforcement officers (LEOs) who are required to regulate their emotions in the context of their personal lives and their job. The emotion suppression tendencies fostered by LEO culture may be exhibited in marital interactions, especially if LEOs perceive that their spouse does not understand their job (described here as spousal job misunderstanding [SJM]). The associations between LEOs believing their spouse misunderstands their job and their reported marital satisfaction and burnout levels may be explained through emotion suppression tendencies when with their spouse. This study examined whether the extent LEOs felt their spouse misunderstood their job was associated with marital satisfaction and burnout; whether those associations were mediated by the extent LEOs hid their feelings from their spouse; and, for burnout, whether effects were conditionally mediated at different levels of social support. Study analyses were conducted in separate groups according to gender, using survey data from 76 male and 26 female LEOs. In line with hypotheses, significant relationships between SJM and LEOs hiding their feelings were found. Mediation analyses revealed significant associations between SJM and marital satisfaction in both males and females, and this association was mediated by the extent LEOs hid their feelings from their spouse in male LEOs only. In a conditional mediation model, SJM was not associated with LEO burnout, but conditional indirect effects were found for male LEOs. Unexpectedly, indirect effects of LEOs hiding their feelings from their spouse were significant at mean and high levels of social support, but not at low levels. These results indicate the relevance of emotion regulation in the context of burnout, marital satisfaction, and social support, and how the opportunity for solving issues in policing and LEO-specific emotional difficulties may be found in novel interventions focused on these constructs.