Promoting mental health in the police sector: an integrated model of resilience, organisational support and emotional literacy

Police work takes place in highly demanding contexts, characterised by frequent exposure to critical events, time pressure, physical risk and high emotional demands. These factors increase the risk of chronic stress, operational fatigue and professional burnout. Despite growing interest in police wellbeing, there is still a lack of an integrated framework that articulates the main protective factors and guides preventive policies. This article aims to synthesise recent literature on mental health in police forces and propose an operational model for promoting wellbeing tailored to the needs of this group. A narrative review of the literature was conducted through a selective search in PubMed, PsycINFO, Scopus, and Dialnet (2010–2025). Studies focusing on police resilience, organisational support, emotional competencies, operational stress, leadership, and organisational climate were included. The studies analysed identify five key protective factors for police mental health: (1) individual and collective resilience; (2) social and organisational support; (3) emotional literacy and affective regulation; (4) sense of purpose and professional identity; and (5) psychosocial climate and healthy leadership. Based on these axes, the Integrated Model of Police Mental Health (IPMHM) is proposed, which articulates interventions at the individual, group and organisational levels. The results suggest that promoting mental health in police forces requires systemic approaches that integrate personal competencies with safe organisational environments and professional cultures oriented towards well-being, highlighting the role of leadership, continuous training and peer support.