Vollrath Case Study

Vollrath (2001) illustrates this point by explaining that conscientious individuals plan for predictable stressors and avoid impulsive reactions to such situations. Conversely, neurotic individuals anticipate events to be threatening and to cause interpersonal stress. Such individuals have lower coping resources and as a result experience higher levels of stress. Skinner and Zimmer-Gembeck (2007) explain, from a biological perspective, that personality is likely to influence one’s coping as personality is rooted in approach/avoidant temperament and attentional regulation systems. If one implements strong approach tendencies it is likely that they will be successful in problem solving (Vollrath, 2001). However, if one utilises an avoidant temperament

This suggests that other variables, such as coping, could hold responsibility for PTSD development. Furthermore, there has been research demonstrating a relationship between personality traits and coping preferences (Carver & Connor-Smith, 2007; Costa & McCrae, 1992).
Coping is a dynamic process involving a combination of one’s cognitive and behavioural efforts (Carver & Connor-Smith, 2007; Folkman & Lazarus, 1984; McCrae & Costa, 1986; Tamres et al., 2002; Vollrath, 2001). These efforts manage the internal and external demands of the individual-environmental relationship that is appraised as exceeding the person’s resources (Carpenter & Scott, 1992; Folkman, Lazarus, Rand & DeLongis, 1986). Coping is a protecting behaviour that makes use of cognitive efforts as an aid against people being psychologically harmed by problematic social experiences (Pearlin & Schooler, 1978; Tamres et al., 2002). Lazarus and Folkman’s (1984) model on coping emphasises that one’s coping choices are dependent on the appraisal (primary appraisal) of the event and the resources (secondary appraisal) one has to address that threat. The initial appraisal of the threat is very important as this is the determining

They further explain that in order to do this police members may alter their coping strategies in order to reduce any obvious symptoms of distress. As a result, these individuals cope in a dysfunctional or maladaptive manner by avoiding or denying the incident that has traumatised them (Kopel & Friedman, 1997). This strong solidarity towards the police force as well as past research on their coping (e.g. Alexander & Walker, 1994) renders it plausible to state that members of the police show similarities in their use of maladaptive and adaptive coping strategies (Patterson, 2003). Research has suggested that police use both PFC and EFC strategies in order to cope (e.g. Evans, Coman, Stanley & Burrows, 1993; Haisch & Meyers, 2004). Dysfunctional coping is associated with an overreliance on these coping strategies and research has shown (e.g. Evans et al., 1993; Haisch & Meyers, 2004) that the police tend to rely either on PFC or EFC styles, thus rendering their coping to be maladaptive and