PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF MENTAL IMAGING TRAINING FOR POLICE TRAINEES

✍ Scribed by BACKMAN, LENA ;ARNETZ, BENGT B. ;LEVIN, DAG ;LUBLIN, ÅKE

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1997
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 155 KB
• Volume: 13
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0748-8386
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1099-1700(199701)13:1<43::aid-smi716>3.0.co;2-6

✦ Synopsis

This study investigated the eects of an intervention programme that mentally prepared police trainees for stressful assignments in order to counteract unfavourable, possibly damaging, psychobiological reactions. Seventy-®ve police trainees participated. One group received mental imaging training. A reference group did not. All trainees were evaluated at the beginning of their ®nal term at the Swedish Police Academy and at the termination of supervised mental training. Subjects completed a questionnaire on both occasions and physiological factors were measured. The baseline evaluation showed no signi®cant dierences between the groups. The second assessment showed that mental training aected the intervention group, which experienced their daily situation more positively than the reference group. The intervention group also reported higher well-being Ð with fewer intestinal and sleep problems. The study to date indicates some positive cognitive and psychological eects of the image programme. Whether the programme over time will also impact on the physiological and somatic health remains to be determined.