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Background. Law enforcement officers (LEOs) wear duty belts to hold the specialised equipment required to complete their daily occupational tasks. The aim of this review was to identify, collect, and synthesize research investigating the impacts of duty belts and load placement on LEOs. Methods: A systematic review, registered with the Open Science Framework, was conducted following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews guidelines. Five databases were searched (PubMed, Embase, CINAHL, SPORTDiscus, and Web of Science) with identified studies considered against eligibility criteria. Included studies were critically appraised by two reviewers independently using the Joanna Briggs Institute checklist or the Mixed Method Appraisal Tool. Results: Ten studies (mean appraisal score = 79.8%; Kappa agreement = 0.73) informed the review revealing two main emerging themes; occupational impacts (task performance, vehicle duties, and weapon draw time), and movement impacts (balance, gait, and jump-based movements). Nine studies found duty belts and equipment loads, regardless of placement, negatively impacted LEO occupational tasks and movements in general. There were some differences in the nature of the impacts (e.g., areas of pressure with different systems). One study found no differences in performance between hip versus thigh holsters. Conclusions: The evidence suggests that LEO duty belts, their attachments, and the loads imparted by their equipment have a negative impact on performance of occupational tasks as well as officer movement, increasing injury potential. There were some differences in impacts based on load placement warranting consideration and further research.

An isolated police officer executing an arrest can be placed in a dangerous situation should the subject become non-compliant. Further research is needed to ascertain the position that a subject can be placed in that takes the longest time to rise from the ground. Twenty-four college-aged participants (15 men, 9 women) were recruited for this study. Four prone positions were examined in one session: hands hidden under the chest (PHC); arms perpendicular to the torso and palms of the hand facing up (PPU); arms perpendicular to the torso, palms of the hand facing up, with ankles crossed on the ground (PPUAC); and arms perpendicular to the torso, palms of the hand facing up, with ankles crossed but elevated toward the lower back (PACKB). The order of these positions was randomized amongst participants. Participants were instructed to rise to an athletic position from each position as quickly as possible, with the movements recorded by a video camera. Times were calculated via a frame-by-frame analysis using motion analysis soft - ware from movement initiation until participants were standing. A 2 (sex) x 4 (position) repeated measures ANOVA with Bonferroni post hoc calculated between-position differences. There was a significant ANOVA for position (p = 0.003) but not sex (p = 0.415). The PACKB position was significantly slower than the PHC and PPUAC positions (p ≤ 0.045) and had the slowest movement time to stand (~2.019 s). As reaction time could influence an officer's safety, the PACKB position required the most time for a subject to stand and potentially engage an officer.

Background. Law enforcement officers may experience unique physical demands while on duty, including pursuing a suspect on foot, clearing obstacles, rapidly moving between covers, and engaging in physical confrontations with violent offenders. Several different change of direction speed (CODS) assessments are routinely used to simulate these demands. However, the relationship between these assessments has not been fully explored. Thus, this study investigated the association of shorter and longer distance sprint running with CODS performance. Methods. 15 police students ran the 20-m sprint test, 300-yard shuttle run, and Illinois Agility Test (IAT). Correlation and regression analyses were used to investigate associations. The effect size analysis provided the magnitude of associations. Results. Correlation analysis determined moderate association between 0-10 m, 10-20 m, and 0-20 m sprint performance with the IAT. The regression analysis determined strong linear association of IAT with sprint 0-10 m (R 2 = 0.488, F = 12.385, p = 0.004), sprint 10-20 m (R 2 = 0.496, F = 12.775, p = 0.003), sprint 0-20 m (R 2 = 0.573, F = 17.468, p = 0.001), and no linear association with the 300-yard shuttle run. Conclusions. The current study found a significant positive association between short sprints and IAT performance, suggesting that linear sprinting speed determines a significant proportion of CODS performance. Therefore, police students and officers should include sprint training in their physical fitness routine.

Police officers may be required to use their firearms in self-defence. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationships between hand grip size and strength with pistol shooting accuracy in police officers. Twelve (age = 38.08 ± 6.24 years; height = 174.42 ± 7.33 cm) police officers had their hand sizes (palm width and hand span) and hand grip strength measured. Handgrip dynamometer was set at a Glock 17 pistol's grip width (50 mm). The officers fired 10 rounds from their service pistols at a stationary target. Independent samples t-tests were performed to identify differences between the sexes. Correlations were used to investigate relationships between measures of hand size, strength, and marksmanship. Alpha levels were set at p < 0.05. Male officers were significantly stronger (p = 0.01) and had a bigger hand width (p = 0.03), but not hand span. There were no significant differences in marksmanship between the sexes. Neither hand size nor grip strength had a significant impact on marksmanship even though there were strong and significant relationships between hand size (span and MCP) and grip strength. A V-shaped curve appears to exist between grip strength and marksmanship and hand span and marksmanship, with a potential influencing factor being the standard sizing of the pistol grip.

The importance of student’s perspectives in informing curricula and pedagogy has long been recognised. However, student’s perspectives are rarely reported in the academic literature. Therefore this study explores and reports on medical student’s perspectives of their first psychiatry clinical rotation in a ‘new’ era medical school in Australia. Method: Seventy-three graduate entry medical students completed a semi-structured questionnaire about their experiences during a mental health rotation. The responses were analysed and coded into thematic categories. Results: The following thematic categories were evident; staff, breadth of experience, attitudes towards mental health, course materials and structure, and professional development. Conclusion: The results are discussed in the context of the current academic recommendations for the teaching of psychiatry and behavioural science to medical students. Although the use of student feedback is recommended by the literature, pragmatically it is rarely utilised and if it is utilised it is not reported in the academic literature. It is recommended that educators embrace the use of student’s perspectives to evaluate and inform their teaching.

Teachers are key to antibullying efforts, and their attitudes toward bullying can influence their intervention responses. There has been a proliferation of this type of research but thus far no review has been performed to coalesce the evidence. Following PRISMA and Cochrane guidelines, we performed a systematic and meta-analytic review. A total of 3990 titles and abstracts identified across 7 databases (PsycINFO, Education Source, ERIC via EBSCOhost, ERIC via ProQuest, Web of Science, ProQuest Dissertations and Theses, Google Scholar) were screened against inclusion and exclusion criteria. After screening, 27 studies were included in the systematic review, 25 of which were included in meta-analyses. The association between antibullying attitudes and intervention responses differed depending on whether (1) measures assessed retrospective reports of intervention responses (i.e., how often teachers used that response) versus intervention intentions (i.e., likelihood they would intervene in hypothetical scenarios) and (2) the specific type of intervention response. Results indicate that teachers' antibullying attitudes were positively related to some responses (disciplining/punishing bullying, victim support, involving parents, involving peer bystanders), negatively related to some responses (advocating avoidance, encouraging independent coping), and unrelated to others (advocating assertion, enlisting other adults, separating students). Results also indicate a positive overall association between antibullying attitudes and intervention likelihood. No moderation by form of bullying was found. Implications for preservice training and in-service teachers' professional development to target bullying attitudes are discussed.

The Forms of Bullying Scale was introduced in 2013 and was normed with a large group of Australian students aged 12 to 15 (Shaw et al., 2013). To date, no researchers have attempted to validate FBS on adolescents in the United States. The purpose of this paper is to provide validation for the Forms of Bullying Scale -- Perpetration (FBS-P; Shaw et al., 2013) in the United States. Despite no language differences, it is possible cross-cultural differences exist that would alter the psychometric properties of the measure when used with an American sample. Four hundred eighty-six adolescents ages 14-18 in the United States took the FBS-P through an online survey program and the shortened version of the Buss-Perry Aggression Questionnaire (AQ; Bryant & Smith, 2001). Results and implications are discussed.

Previous research assessing differences in teachers' perceptions of bullying (e.g., seriousness, empathy, intervention likelihood) have focused primarily on physical, relational, verbal, and cyberbullying forms. Equally important is understanding views of social bullying (e.g., spreading rumors) given the frequency at which youth experience these social attacks. To add to our knowledge about perceptions of this form of bullying, the current study adding social bullying vignettes to the routinely utilized Bullying Attitudes Questionnaire (Craig et al., 2000; Yoon & Kerber, 2003). Preservice teachers (n = 222, 86.5% female, 80.2% White) from a large public university in the southeastern USA participated in the study. Analyses compared differences in perceptions based on the forms of bullying and examined whether patterns differed depending on several key demographic (e.g., gender, prior victimization experience) and training background variables (e.g., practicum experience, year of study). The results showed that preservice teachers viewed physical and cyberbullying as the most serious forms of bullying. Social bullying was perceived to be the least serious form. Significant interaction effects between form of bullying and gender were also found. Compared to male preservice teachers, females were more empathetic toward victims of relational, cyber, and social forms of bullying, more confident to deal with verbal and social forms of bullying, and more likely to intervene in all forms except physical. Additional results with training background variables are presented, and implications for teacher interventions and teacher training are discussed.

Bullying a detrimental behavior associated with costs to individuals, schools, and communities. Essential to our efforts to reduce bullying is understanding why bullying occurs, particularly from the perspective of preservice teachers who will one day engage in antibullying intervention and prevention efforts. However, no such measure capturing the multi-faceted nature of bullying motives exists. The current study addressed this gap by developing and validating the measure "Perceived Motives for School-Based Bullying" (PMSBB) using a sample of preservice teachers (n = 331, 86.5% female) pursing their teaching degrees. Results of the confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) supported a 6-factor solution reflecting the following motives for bullying: (1) desire for social status, (2) peer group reasons, (3) peer influence, (4) recreation, (5) resource control, and (6) retaliation. Implications for the measure's usage as part of larger antibullying efforts are discussed.