Does cardiovascular autonomic control predict shooting efficiency of police officers?

Emotional reactions, such as fear or anxiety may affect perceptual-motor skills, especially under high-pressure situations. We used a realistic police tactical task, implying decision making and use of deadly force, to test the possibility to predict shooting efficacy as a function of the level of individual acute operational stress (AOS). Methods: The ECG of twenty police officers (PO) was monitored during realistic tactical “shoot/no shoot” scenarios. PO shot their service 9 mm Beretta 92FS, converted for Airmunition Condition Blue man-marking cartridges. Basal anxiety level was assessed with the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory-Trait and the PSS Sheldon Cohen scale. AOS was subjectively evaluated with the Zijlstra’s RSME. Short-term heart rate variability (HRV) analysis was used to correlate shooting performance with AOS level. Discriminant Analysis (DA) was used to predict shooting efficacy. Results: DA of short-term HRV parameters evidences different cardiovascular autonomic adaptation (CAA) to low and high AOS. DA of several HRV feature predicted behavioral efficacy under different level of anxiety. Conclusions: In S/NS situations, CAA is different as a function of PO ability to enforce goal-directed processing (i.e. to decide appropriate use of force and shoot accurately) under threat. DA of HRV features helps to predict individual capability to control emotions and shoot efficiently when required.