Browsing by Author "Gordon J. G. Asmundson"

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Open Access
Prevalence of Current Chronic Pain in Royal Canadian Mounted Police Cadets
(Informa UK Limited, 2024-05-12) Robyn E. Shields; Taylor A. Teckchandani; Katie L. Andrews; Billea Ahlgrim; Danielle M. Caissie; Chet C. Hembroff; Jolan Nisbet; Gordon J. G. Asmundson; Gregory P. Krätzig; R. Nicholas Carleton
Background: Nearly half of active duty Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) officers (i.e., 43%) report experiencing current chronic pain (i.e., pain lasting longer than 3 months). Most RCMP officers (i.e., 91%) who report chronic pain indicate that the pain started after working as RCMP officers. Baseline data on chronic pain prevalence among RCMP cadets has not been available. Aims: The current study was designed to provide cross-sectional estimates of chronic pain prevalence among RCMP cadets starting the Cadet Training Program and to assess for sociodemographic differences among participants. Methods: The RCMP Study uses a longitudinal prospective sequential experimental cohort design to create a clustered randomized trial that engages individual participants for 5.5 years. The current manuscript provides cross- sectional associations between chronic pain prevalence and sociodemographic characteristics. Participants were RCMP cadets (n=770) starting the Cadet Training Program. Location, intensity (i.e., on a 0-10 scale, and days per week experienced), and duration (i.e., number of months) of chronic pain was reported. Differences across sociodemographic characteristics were examined. Results: Few RCMP cadets reported experiencing chronic pain (i.e., 10%); lower back pain was rated as the most severe in terms of intensity and duration, and second most frequently reported in number of days experienced per week. Prevalence of chronic pain was lower among RCMP cadets than RCMP officers. Conclusions: Chronic pain prevalence among active duty RCMP officers may result from or be moderated by operational duties, as well as routine aging. Future researchers could examine ways to mitigate chronic pain development during RCMP officer careers.
Open Access
Royal Canadian Mounted Police cadets’ exposure to potentially psychologically traumatic events during the Cadet Training Program
(Wiley, 2024-12-20) Katie L. Andrews; Kirby Q. Maguire; Laleh Jamshidi; Tracie O. Afifi; Jolan Nisbet; Robyn E. Shields; Taylor A. Teckchandani; Gordon J. G. Asmundson; Alain Brunet; Lisa M. Lix; Shannon Sauer‐Zavala; Jitender Sareen; Terence M. Keane; J. Patrick Neary; R. Nicholas Carleton
Lifetime exposures to potentially psychologically traumatic events (PPTEs) among Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) cadets starting the Cadet Training Program (CTP) appear lower than exposures reported by serving RCMP, but the prevalence of PPTE exposures during the CTP remains unknown. The current study assessed PPTE exposures during the CTP and examined associations with mental disorders among RCMP cadets. Participants were cadets (n = 449, 24.7% women) from the larger RCMP Longitudinal Study who self-reported critical incidents, PPTE exposures, and mental health disorder symptoms at pretraining and predeployment. Most participants reported no exposures to a PPTE (n = 374, 83.3%) during the CTP. Participants who reported any PPTE exposure (n = 75, 16.7%; i.e., direct or indirect) most commonly reported serious transport accidents, physical assault, and sudden accidental death. The most common direct PPTEs (i.e., “happened to me”) during the CTP were physical assault (n = 13), other unwanted or uncomfortable sexual experience (n = 11), and serious transportation accident (n = 8). The total number of PPTE types reported at predeployment was associated with increased odds of screening positive for any mental health disorder, aOR = 1.22, 95% CI [1.01, 1.49], p = .049, and positively associated with mental health disorder symptoms, ps < .001. These results provide the first assessment of PPTE exposure among RCMP cadets during the CTP, indicating that 16.7% of cadets experience PPTEs directly or indirectly. The PPTEs reported by cadets may help inform additional opportunities to further increase safety during training.