Royal Netherlands Marechaussee Personnel’s Self-Perceived Occupational Demand Profiles: A Latent Profile Analysis Shows the “Good” Versus the “Bad”

INTRODUCTION: Research has linked high occupational demands to multiple adverse health outcomes, both physical and mental. As far as we know, researchers have not identified the profile characteristics of military police personnel based on occupational demands. The current study aims to identify profiles based on self-perceived occupational demands and work-related factors. This study is a starting point for characterizing performance and health in a military police population. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study in which we gathered survey data from 1,135 Royal Netherlands Marechaussee members. We used Latent Profile Analysis to identify profiles based on nine indicators of workload and work characteristics selected via focus groups and interviews with Royal Netherlands Marechaussee personnel. We determined if the profiles differed significantly across all indicators with an analysis of variance. Then, we used binominal logistic regression to determine the odds ratio (OR) for the indicators on profile membership. RESULTS: We discovered two profiles that were distinct across all indicators. Experience (OR = 1.02, 95% CI [1.00–1.04]), autonomy (OR = 1.18, 95% CI [1.06–1.31]), task clarity (OR = 1.49, [1.32–1.69]), and work support (OR = 2.63, 95% CI [2.26–3.09]) were all predictors for a low perceived occupational demand profile. In contrast, mental (OR = 0.18, 95% CI [0.13–0.25]) and physical (OR = 0.42, 95% CI [0.32–0.54]) fatigue, and boredom (OR = 0.14, 95% CI [0.10–0.20]) were predictors for high perceived occupational demand profiles. CONCLUSION: We established two distinct profiles that describe the characteristics reported by the Royal Netherlands Marechaussee personnel based on workload and work characteristics. High scores on autonomy, work support, and task clarity predict favorable perceived occupational demands, whereas fatigue and boredom predict unfavorable occupational demands. Remarkably, the physical workload did not predict high perceived occupational demands.