Lillis Marie-Louise Elisabeth Rabbing

Lecturer

Email: Lillis.Marie-Louise.Elisabeth.Rabbing@phs.no

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Background and experience

I am an assistant professor in physical education, specializing in the didactics of physical training for bachelor students. Through practical sessions focused on developing fundamental physical capacities and by serving as a role model, I strive to inspire students to adopt and sustain a health-promoting lifestyle beyond their studies. Additionally, I am responsible for training in first aid, both on land and in water. Given that life and health are top priorities in policing, solid knowledge and competence in life-saving first aid are crucial for making the right decisions in critical situations.

Teaching

Physical training and education
Landbased and waterbased first aid

Research

Conceptualising stress in policing
How stress is measured in policing
Selection and applications of measurement instruments in police stress research

Projects

Stress in the Police - Concepts and Measures

Research groups

Rabbing, Lillis Marie-Louise Elisabeth; Lau, Bjørn; Fostervold, Knut Inge; Blenkinsopp, John & Bjørkelo, Brita (2023). Enhancing self-reported assessment of working conditions in policing: Revisiting the psychometric properties and applications of the police stress questionnaire. Psychological Reports. ISSN 0033-2941. p. 1–19. doi: 10.1177/00332941231207957. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
Objectives Policing is recognized as a highly stressful occupation, encompassing stressors not commonly encountered in other fields. In response, police-specific stress scales have been developed and used when studying police work. Despite changes in the composition of police personnel, most studies examining police working conditions focus on sworn police officers (SPO), excluding employees without police education (EWPE). To advance research and practice on stress in the police, align results, and increase the possibilities for comparisons across studies using police-specific measures (PSMs) we conducted a psychometric evaluation of the two scales in the Police Stress Questionnaire (PSQ). We examined whether adding “Not Applicable” to the response scales would reduce vulnerability and make the PSQ more robust. Method Based on a survey with a randomised sample (N = 560) of SPO and EWPE in the Norwegian Police, we tested the original factor structures of the PSQ through Confirmatory Factor Analysis including tests of factor structures from previous studies. Results For all models, the indicators of fit indicated a poor fit with either our whole or stratified sample. The response choice ‘Not Applicable’ provided extended information for SPOs and EWPEs on the PSQ. Conclusions To promote aligning results and enabling comparisons across studies using the PSQ, we suggest treating the PSQ scales as formative indexes, rather than reflective scales. Adding “Not Applicable” to the response scale offers an influential elaboration of the PSQ with beneficial and extended information. Generalised studies of stress in the police should include the entire population working there.
Rabbing, Lillis; Bjørkelo, Brita & Langvik, Eva (2022). Upper and lower musculoskeletal back pain, stress, physical activity, and organisational work support: An exploratory study of police investigative interviewers. Health Psychology Open (HPO). 9(2). doi: 10.1177/20551029221146396. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
Police investigative interviewers in special victims’ units have particularly stressing work conditions. Being few in numbers, with highly specialised competence, the health and well-being of this workgroup are key. This study explores the prevalence of muscular lower and upper back pain and stress and associations with physical activity and organisational work support among 77 police investigators. The police investigative interviewers reported high levels of physical activity. Compared to other police employees, they reported similar levels of musculoskeletal back pain, higher levels of upper back pain, and higher levels of stress. Physical activity was not related to musculoskeletal back pain. In the regression analysis, musculoskeletal back pain was negatively associated with organisational work support. Limitations due to low statistical power and a cross-sectional design apply. However, the study provides interesting insight into the prevalence of musculoskeletal back pain and its association with organisational work support and stress among police employees.
Rabbing, Lillis; Bjørkelo, Brita; Fostervold, Knut Inge; Strømme, Hilde & Lau, Bjørn (2022). A Scoping review of stress measurements and psychometry in police research. Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology. ISSN 0882-0783. doi: 10.1007/s11896-022-09498-7. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
Despite a growing body of research, there is no systematic body of evidence that establishes the rigour of existing measures of stress among police. The aim of this scoping review was to investigate (1) the diversity of stress measures used in police research and (2) the psychometric properties of such measures and the ways in which they are utilised. The systematic literature search discovered 16,216 records, which were reduced to 442 records of relevance. A total of 20 qualitative and 422 quantitative studies were found to be relevant, including a total of 129 unique measures, of which the majority showed satisfactory reliability (Cronbach’s alpha≥0.80). The identifed measures pertain to four main categories: police-specifc, perceived stress, psychological and physiological outcomes (including mood and afect changes), and assessment batteries. The measures have a general tendency to emphasise illness, and police-specifc stressors pertain mostly to traditional police work. Measures should be chosen based on the aspect of the stress phenomenon that is to be investigated. This study provides detailed recommendations concerning how to use these measures to advance research concerning stress among police.

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Rabbing, Lillis Marie-Louise Elisabeth; Bjørkelo, Brita & Langvik, Eva (2024). The role of physical activity in musculoskeletal pain conditions among police employees: methodological considerations. Full text in Research Archive
Rabbing, Lillis Marie-Louise Elisabeth; Lau, Bjørn; Fostervold, Knut Inge; Blenkinsopp, John & Bjørkelo, Brita (2023). Challenging and Demanding Work: A Study into Stress in the Police. Full text in Research Archive
Rabbing, Lillis Marie-Louise Elisabeth; Lau, Bjørn; Fostervold, Knut Inge; Blenkinsopp, John & Bjørkelo, Brita (2023). Modern Policing and the Use of Police-Specific Measurements of Perceived Stress – Do We Get More Knowledge? Full text in Research Archive
Rabbing, Lillis; Bjørkelo, Brita; Fostervold, Knut Inge; Strømme, Hilde & Lau, Bjørn (2021). Stress in the police: Measurements and psychometric properties. Full text in Research Archive
Rabbing, Lillis & Bjørkelo, Brita (2020). Police stress studies around the world – measurements that work. Full text in Research Archive
Rabbing, Lillis; Lau, Bjørn; Bjørkelo, Brita & Fostervold, Knut Inge (2019). Norwegian Police Service Employee Study. Full text in Research Archive
Sørli, Vanja Lundgren; Rabbing, Lillis & Trædal, Torkjell (2019). Direktorater ønsker selv å fylle lederposisjonene ved en ny justishøgskole: — Oppsiktsvekkende, sier tillitsvalgt. [Internet]. Khrono. Full text in Research Archive
Rabbing, Lillis & Bjørkelo, Brita (2019). Challenging and Demanding Work: Operative and Organisational Work Demands and Individual and Organisational Resources as Predictors of Health and Work Engagement in the Norwegian Police Service. Full text in Research Archive

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Published Nov. 14, 2024 1:39 PM - Last modified June 24, 2025 10:09 AM