This study analyzes the occupational stress in a sample of security forces, also observing the importance of cognitive appraisals of the transactional model (Lazarus, 1991, 2000) in adjustment to work contexts. The study included 196 police officers who responded to the following measures: sources of professional stress, primary and secondary cognitive appraisals, burnout, and depressive symptomatology. The results indicated more negative professional experiences in participants who were married, who did not engage in physical activities, performed their jobs mainly outside the workplace, worked higher numbers of hours per week, and had the lowest professional categories. The processes of cognitive appraisal were determinant in the explanation of occupational stress, burnout, and depressive symptomatology. The occupational stress and cognitive appraisal dimensions were predictors of burnout. The results highlighted the importance of personal and professional variables in the explanation of the participants' professional experiences and the usefulness of the transactional model in studying occupational stress.
Stress; Cognitive Appraisal; Stress; Burnout; Depressive Symptomatology
