Date Submitted
3-13-2024
Faculty Advisor
Sarah Getch
Abstract
Upholding efficient performance under stress is difficult, especially for first responders such as police officers when encountering dangerous and anxiety-provoking situations. The current research aimed to study the effects of anxiety on shooting accuracy scores. Law enforcement agencies affiliated with the Kansas City Regional Academy were recruited. They volunteered to either be in the experimental or control group, where the control group did not participate in the intervention but had their shooting scores collected. Both groups were provided and encouraged to complete a demographic questionnaire with items that ask for the number of years the participant has been on the police force, as well as the department in which they are assigned. Additionally, each participant received the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory Short-5 (STAIS-5) (Zsido et al., 2020), which measured their anxiety before the shooting examination. It was hypothesized that (1) higher scores on the STAIS-5 would be associated with lower shooting accuracy scores, (2) officers who work in the law enforcement divisions which require them to use their firearms more frequently will have higher shooting accuracy scores, and (3) lower number of years on the police force will be associated with higher shooting accuracy scores. The results of the current study indicated that shooting accuracy, within the police officer population, is greatly impacted by perceived anxiety. It was also found that experience and assigned bureau did not impact shooting accuracy scores.
