The Law Enforcement Officer Stress Survey (LEOSS): evaluation of psychometric properties.
The 25-item LEOSS is a reliable and valid quick stress screener you can use with law-enforcement clients.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Beaumont et al. (2008) checked if a new 25-item police stress quiz works.
They gave the quiz to 95 officers two times, two weeks apart.
They also gave longer mood and burnout tests to see if the quiz scores matched real strain.
What they found
The short quiz held together: high internal consistency (α = .91) and test-retest r = .86.
Officers with higher LEOSS scores also scored higher on depression, anxiety, and burnout surveys.
A quick 25-item screen can flag cops who need more help.
How this fits with other research
McGeown et al. (2013) did the same math check on a Korean caregiver quiz and got the same good news: the tool stayed reliable after translation.
Faso et al. (2016) built a new 75-item adaptive-behavior scale with fancy IRT modeling; B et al. simply showed an existing 25-item cop quiz already passes classic reliability tests—no need to rebuild.
Dudley et al. (2019) found LENA recorders failed accuracy checks with kids with ASD; B et al. show a paper cop quiz can pass accuracy checks, underscoring that simple surveys sometimes beat high-tech gear.
Why it matters
If you serve first-responder clients, keep a copy of the LEOSS in your intake folder. It takes five minutes, gives a number you can track across sessions, and now you know the data behind it are solid. When scores jump, you have an objective talking point for adding stress-management goals or referring out.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
This study establishes the reliability and validity of the Law Enforcement Officer Stress Survey (LEOSS), a short early-warning stress-screening measure for law enforcement officers. The initial phase of LEOSS development employed the behavioral-analytic model to construct a 25-item instrument specifically geared toward evaluation of stress in this population. The purpose of the present study was to examine psychometric properties of the LEOSS. Results indicate this instrument has good levels of internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and validity. Potential applications of the LEOSS in clinical and research contexts are discussed. The next phase of research on the LEOSS is discussed, and suggestions for directions that future research in this area might take are offered.
Behavior modification, 2008 · doi:10.1177/0145445507308571