Browsing by Author "Duranceau, Sophie"

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Open Access
An Examination of Attentional Bias for Threat in a Motor Vehicle Accident Survivors with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder
(Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research, University of Regina, 2014-07) Duranceau, Sophie; Carleton, R. Nicholas; Asmundson, Gordon J.G.; Oriet, Chris; Riemann, Bradley C.
Theoretical models of anxiety suggest that cognitive vulnerabilities are involved in the development and maintenance of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD; Elwood, Hahn, Olatunji, & Williams, 2009). Attentional bias for threat has been identified as a cognitive vulnerability which may facilitate the development and maintenance of PTSD (Bomyea, Risbrough, & Lang, 2012). Several cognitive tasks have previously been used to assess attentional bias for threat in anxiety pathologies (i.e., emotional Stroop task, visual search task, dot probe task). The proposed investigation was designed to assess the directionality (i.e., facilitated attention, difficulty in disengagement, avoidance) and time-course of attentional bias for threat in motor vehicle accident (MVA) survivors using a contemporary dot probe task. Participants included MVA survivors with high PTSD symptoms (n = 18), MVA survivors with low PTSD symptoms (n = 46), and a control group with no history of MVA or PTSD (n = 64) recruited across North America. Results suggest that MVA survivors reporting high PTSD symptoms display a different attentional pattern than individuals without such symptoms during the early stages of cognitive processing. Specifically, MVA survivors with high PTSD symptoms 1) easily disengage their attention from MVA-related threat and, contrary to individuals without PTSD symptoms, 2) fail to engage with generally threatening stimuli. A lack of engagement with threatening stimuli could interfere with the processing and re-appraisal of threat, in turn contributing to the exacerbation of PTSD symptoms. Attention bias modification programs could be useful for the treatment of PTSD. Comprehensive results, methodological considerations, implications, and future research are discussed.
Open Access
Mental Disorder Symptoms among Public Safety Personnel in Canada
(SAGE Publications, 2017-08-28) Carleton, R. Nicholas; Afifi, Tracie O.; Turner, Sarah; Taillieu, Tamara L.; Duranceau, Sophie; LeBouthillier, Daniel, M.; Sareen, Jitender; Ricciardelli, Rosemary; MacPhee, Renée, S.; Groll, Dianne; Hozempa, Kadie; Brunet, Alain; Weekes, John R.; Griffiths, Curt T.; Abrams, Kelly J.; Jones, Nicholas A.; Beshai, Shadi; Cramm, Heidi; Dobson, Keith S.; Hatcher, Simon; Keane, Terence M.; Stewart, Sherry H.; Asmundson, Gordon J.G.
Canadian public safety personnel (PSP; e.g., correctional workers, dispatchers, firefighters, paramedics, police officers) are exposed to potentially traumatic events as a function of their work. Such exposures contribute to the risk of developing clinically significant symptoms related to mental disorders. The current study was designed to provide estimates of mental disorder symptom frequencies and severities for Canadian PSP.
Open Access
Mental Health Care Seeking in the Canadian Armed Forces Post-Afghanistan: Can Social Support and Paraprofessional Initiatives Help Increase Access to Care?
(Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research, University of Regina, 2017-07) Duranceau, Sophie; Carleton, R. Nicholas; Wright, Kristi; Asmundson, Gordon; Martin, Ronald; McCreary, Donald
Recent research shows an increase in the mental health needs of Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) personnel (Fikretoglu, Liu, Zamorski, & Jetly, 2016). Research also indicates that a portion of CAF personnel with a mental health need do not seek professional mental health care or fail to initiate treatment in a timely fashion (e.g., Fikretoglu, Liu, Pedlar, & Brunet, 2010; Zamorski & Boulos, 2014). Andersen’s (1995; 2008) Behavioral Model of Health Services Use suggests predisposing factors (e.g., age), enabling/impeding factors (e.g., income), and need-related factors (e.g., mental health diagnosis) can help explain professional mental health care seeking behaviors. Several studies conducted with military samples have investigated factors that can impede the care seeking process (i.e., barriers; e.g., Sareen, Cox, et al., 2007); however, relatively less is known about factors that may facilitate access to mental health care. The current studies explored recent patterns of professional and paraprofessional mental health service use in CAF personnel. The studies were designed to identify different means by which access to mental health care may be increased in this population. Specifically, Study 1 assessed the propensity of CAF personnel to seek help from their social network (e.g., family, coworkers), as well as the impact of seeking such help on professional mental health service use and perceived need for care. Study 2 examined individual predictors of using a paraprofessional peer support program available to CAF personnel, veterans, and their families (i.e., Operational Stress Injury Social Support [OSISS]). Study 3 identified the frequency of Internet use for mental health related activities among CAF personnel and individual predictors of use. Participants in all three studies included Regular Members from a recent nationally representative Canadian military sample (n ≈ 6,700; Canadian Forces Mental Health Survey; Statistics Canada, 2014). ii Weighting and bootstrapping estimation procedures were used to account for the complex survey design. Prevalence estimates were computed for all three studies and multivariate logistic regression analyses served to identify predictors of professional mental health service use, perceived need for care, OSISS use, and Internet use for mental health related activities. The results indicate that: 1) seeking support from various social groups is positively related to professional mental health service use and perceived need for care; 2) meeting criteria for posttraumatic stress disorder has the strongest association with OSISS use, but only a small number of CAF personnel seek help from OSISS; and 3) the Internet is more readily accessed than other forms of paraprofessional mental health care (e.g., OSISS) and few individual barriers exist to Internet use for mental health related activities among CAF personnel. The results suggest that developing psychoeducational programs and resources readily available to the social networks of military personnel (e.g., family members) may help facilitate access to professional mental health care. The results also suggest mental health resources may be best delivered to military personnel and their social networks through in-person professional mental health services or Internet-based technologies. Comprehensive results, methodological considerations, implications, and future research are discussed.