Work–Family Conflicts, Stress, and Turnover Intention Among Hong Kong Police Officers Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic

• Author: Jessica C. M. Li,Chau-kiu Cheung,Ivan Y. Sun,Yuen-kiu Cheung,Shimin Zhu
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/10986111211034777
• Published date: 01 September 2022
• Date: 01 September 2022
• Subject Matter: Articles

Article

Work–Family Conflicts,

Stress, and Turnover

Intention Among Hong

Kong Police Officers

Amid the COVID-19

Pandemic

Jessica C. M. Li

1

,

Chau-kiu Cheung

2

, Ivan Y. Sun

3

,

Yuen-kiu Cheung

1

, and Shimin Zhu

1

Abstract

Although work stress, turnover intention, and work–family conflicts among police

officers have been extensively investigated, no studies have explored these issues

simultaneously under the context of the coronavirus pandemic. Clearly, both work

and family domains have been drastically affected by this global health crisis, and it is

likely that each domain has a distinctive impact on work outcomes. Using survey data

based on a representative random sample of 335 police officers in Hong Kong, this

study examines the impacts of resource losses and gains across family and work

domains on occupational stress and turnover intention amid the pandemic. A mul-

tiple regression indicates that both family-to-work and work-to-family conflicts lead

to work stress and turnover intention among police officers. Among officers, super-

visory support is negatively associated with turnover intention and moderates the

impact of work-to-family conflicts on turnover intention. Finally, measures to miti-

gate work stress during public health disasters are discussed.

1

Department of Applied Social Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China

2

Department of Social and Behavioural Sciences, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China

3

Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice, University of Delaware, Newark, United States

Corresponding Author:

Jessica C.M. Li, Department of Applied Social Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong

Kong, China.

Email: cmj.li@polyu.edu.hk

Police Quarterly

!The Author(s) 2021

Article reuse guidelines:

sagepub.com/journals-permissions

DOI: 10.1177/10986111211034777

journals.sagepub.com/home/pqx

2022, Vol. 25(3) 281–309

282 Police Quarterly 25(3)

Keywords

coronavirus pandemic, police, turnover intention, work stress, work–family conflict

Many studies have shown that police work is highly stressful (Anshel, 2000;

Goodman, 1990; He et al., 2002), and enforcing the law as a Hong Kong

police officer is no exception (Li et al., 2019; Lo, 2012). Work stress becomes

inevitable when the balance between work and family is disrupted. The recent

coronavirus pandemic has had a major effect on both the work and family

domains of police officers. On March 11, 2020, the World Health

Organization (WHO) characterized the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)

outbreak as a pandemic. As of April 10, 2021, the COVID-19 pandemic has

affected 223 countries worldwide, with more than 13.4 million confirmed cases

and a death toll exceeding 2.9 million (WHO, 2021). COVID-19 is the most

significant public health crisis of our time and a public order concern. As one of

the most densely populated places in the world (with 6,690 persons per square

kilometer), Hong Kong is especially vulnerable to this pandemic.

The literature demonstrates that the COVID-19 pandemic has had a negative

effect on police officers’ working situations and family relationships. For exam-

ple, De Camargo (2021) used data collected via interviews with 18 police officers

in the U.K. to reveal the connection between continued lack of support in the

workplace and the detachment and displacement of anxiety and fear related to

working during a pandemic. Police officers’ stress during the pandemic can be

attributed in part to changes of work schedules and job routines (Stogner et al.,

2020). In China, police officers’ stress levels were linked to their background

characteristics, such as age, education, and marital status (Yuan et al., 2020).

Police officers worried about bringing the infection home (Frenkel et al., 2021),

and thus avoided contact with their own families (Stogner et al., 2020).

The COVID-19 pandemic and related precautionary measures have imposed

additional job demands on police officers. First, in addition to medical and

public health professionals, police officers shoulder some of the responsibility

of controlling the spread of the virus. They are required to stop, detain, and

arrest individuals suspected of violating public preventive measures and laws,

which can create tension between them and the public. Second, police officers

assist health officials in handling the prevention and inspection of passengers in

airplanes and public transportation, which unavoidably increase work volumes

and the pressure on the time spent with their families. Third, officers have close

daily contact with the public and face a higher risk of being infected with the