NIJAMSS peer-reviewed article

Coping Strategies and the Trauma Exposure, Post-Traumatic Stress, and Job Performance Pathway among Police Officers in Njoro Sub-County, Kenya

Jones Orina Omwenga; Daniel A. Otwori

Abstract: Background: Exposure to distressing events is a routine occupational concern in policing. Coping may change the association of trauma exposure with post-traumatic stress symptoms and job performance. Objective: To examine the reported moderated mediation effect of coping strategies on the trauma, post-traumatic stress, and performance pathway among police officers in Njoro Sub-County, Kenya. Methods: A cross-sectional mixed-methods thesis sampled 147 officers from a target population of 238 across five stations; 128 questionnaires were returned (87.1%). Five station commanders were interviewed. This paper presents the third objective using the thesis regression table that includes an index of moderated mediation. Results: Trauma exposure was positively associated with post-traumatic stress symptoms (B = 0.478, SE = 0.067, p < .001); symptoms were negatively associated with job performance (B = -0.372, SE = 0.072, p < .001). Coping was positively associated with performance (B = 0.248, SE = 0.066, p < .001), and the symptom-by-coping interaction was positive (B = 0.163, SE = 0.064, p = .012). The table reports an index of moderated mediation of 0.086 (SE = 0.032, p = .007), without a confidence interval. Conclusion: The reported interaction is consistent with coping modifying the symptom-performance association. The moderated mediation claim remains provisional pending reconciliation of conflicting thesis tables and estimation of conditional indirect effects with confidence intervals.

Keywords: Coping strategies; Job performance; Kenya; Moderated mediation; Occupational trauma; Police officers; Post-traumatic stress

Journal

Nexus International Journal of Applied Science, Medicine and Social Sciences

e-ISSN

3144-2196

Publication date

August 2026

Volume / Issue

Vol. 1, Issue 2

Paper number

024

Article type

Original Research

Published paper ID

NIJAMSS-V1S2-AUG2026-024

Publisher

Nexus Academic Press

Access

Open Access

Full text PDF: https://www.nijamss.org/archives-download/nijamss-vol-1-series-2-august-2026-paper-024.pdf