The Influence Mechanism of Prison Police’s Depression: A Cross-Lagged Analysis

Due to the particularity of the work of the prison police, the prevalence of depression is increasing. To explore the influence mechanism of prison police depression, this study used questionnaire to measure burnout, work–family conflict, and depression of prison police in two follow-ups with 6-month intervals, and the number of valid subjects was 118. Cross-lagged analysis and longitudinal mediation analysis were used for data processing. The results showed that job burnout and depression among prison police can influence and predict each other. Work–family conflict significantly positively predicted depression. Burnout and work–family conflict are important predictors of changes in depression among prison police. The policy and practice implications of the findings are discussed at the end of the study.