Browsing by Author "Korol, Stephanie"

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Open Access
Brief mental health disorder screening questionnaires and use with public safety personnel: A review
(Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute, 2021-04-03) Shields, Robyn, E.; Korol, Stephanie; Carleton, R. Nicholas; McElheran, Megan; Stelnicki, Andrea, M.; Groll, Dianne; Anderson, Gregory S.
Brief mental health disorder screening questionnaires (SQs) are used by psychiatrists, physicians, researchers, psychologists, and other mental health professionals and may provide an efficient method to guide clinicians to query symptom areas requiring further assessment. For exam- ple, annual screening has been used to help identify military personnel who may need help. Nearly half (44.5%) of Canadian public safety personnel (PSP) screen positive for one or more mental health disorder(s); as such, regular mental health screenings for PSP may be a valuable way to support men- tal health. The following review was conducted to (1) identify existing brief mental health disorder SQs; (2) review empirical evidence of the validity of identified SQs; (3) identify SQs validated within PSP populations; and (4) recommend appropriately validated brief screening questionnaires for five common mental health disorders (i.e., generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), major depressive depres- sion (MDD), panic disorder, posttraumatic stress disorder, alcohol use disorder). After reviewing the psychometric properties of the identified brief screening questionnaires, we recommend the following four brief screening tools for use with PSP: the Patient Health Questionnaire-4 (screening for MDD and GAD), the Brief Panic Disorder Symptom Screen—Self-Report, the Short-Form Posttraumatic Checklist-5, and the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test-Consumption.
Open Access
Demographic and cognitive risk factors for police mental disorder symptoms
(SAGE Publications, 2019-12-17) Korol, Stephanie; Vig, Kelsey D.; Teale-Sapach, Michelle; Asmundson, Gordon J.G.; Carleton, R. Nicholas
The current study was designed to assess whether cognitive risk factors (i.e. anxiety sensitivity (AS), intolerance of uncertainty (IU)) explained variance in mental disorder symptoms in Canadian police officers beyond variance explained by demographic variables (i.e. sex, marital status, education, years of service). Police participants (708 men; 271 women) completed measures assessing posttraumatic stress disorder, panic disorder, social anxiety disorder, major depressive disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, IU and AS. Multivariate analysis of variance demonstrated that only main effects of sex were significant for all symptom variables, except SAD. Hierarchical multiple regressions demonstrated that AS and IU accounted for greater variance than sex on all mental disorder symptom measures, which suggests that cognitive risk factors explain more variance in mental disorder symptoms than sex. Efforts to reduce AS and IU may be beneficial for improving police mental health.
Open Access
Investigating the Relationship Between Problematic Smartphone Use, Intolerance of Uncertainty, And Mindfulness
(Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research, University of Regina, 2021-09) Korol, Stephanie; Carleton, R. Nicholas; Asmundson, Gordon; Beshai, Shadi; Camp, Ronald; Mahoney, Alison
Problematic smartphone use (PSU) describes subjective distress, impairment, and/or negative consequences in important areas of functioning due to an inability to regulate smartphone usage (Billieux, 2012; Merlo et al., 2013). PSU is correlated with several mental health concerns, including symptoms of depression, anxiety, and perceived stress (Demirci et al., 2015; Elhai et al., 2017; Elhai et al., 2019; Samaha et al., 2016). Intolerance of uncertainty (IU) is related to numerous anxiety-related disorders (Carleton 2016a, 2016b) and may be a transdiagnostic cognitive mechanism relevant to PSU. A statistically significant increase in IU and smartphone usage from 1999 to 2014 suggests a relationship between IU and increasing smartphone use (Carleton et al., 2019). Smartphone use may increase access to reassurance, therein acting as a safety cue for those with heightened levels of IU (Carleton et al., 2019). Online mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) may be an easily-accessible option for reducing IU and PSU, by increasing awareness and non-judgmental observations of the present moment (Bishop et al., 2004). Online MBIs produce reductions in anxiety-related symptoms (e.g., Cavanagh et al., 2013; Krusche et al., 2013; Querstret et al., 2018), but have not been explored as targeted interventions for IU and PSU. The current randomized control trial aimed to: 1) assess the effectiveness of an online MBI in reducing IU, PSU, and anxiety-related symptoms, and increasing mindfulness; 2) assess whether an accurate measure of smartphone use is associated with IU over time; and 3) assess whether PSU is associated with IU over time. Eligible participants were randomized to one of the following groups: 1) Waitlist Control condition, 2) Active Control condition (actively reducing smartphone use), or 3) MBI Treatment condition. Primary outcome measures of PSU, IU, and mindfulness, as well as secondary outcome measures of anxiety-related symptoms, were completed by participants once per week for five weeks while participants were asked to record their smartphone use via a smartphone monitoring application. Participants in the MBI Treatment condition participated in a weekly online MBI for four weeks. Participants in the Active Control condition were asked to decrease their smartphone use each week and watch a nature film equivalent to the length of the MBI videos each week. Multilevel linear modeling was used to test the effectiveness of the online MBI in reducing levels of IU, PSU, and anxiety-related symptoms, and increasing levels of mindfulness. Correlational analyses were used to assess the relationship between IU, smartphone use, and PSU over time. Participants in the MBI Treatment condition demonstrated superiority in decreasing symptoms of anxiety, relative to the Waitlist Control condition, but not the Active Control condition. Participants in the MBI Treatment condition also demonstrated superiority in increasing levels of mindfulness relative to both Control conditions, particularly at later time points. Across conditions, levels of IU and depression decreased over time, and initial levels of mindfulness increased, suggesting a possible effect of the smartphone monitoring application. Further, the MBI Treatment and Active Control conditions appear to be effective in reducing PSU. Lastly, PSU, but not general smartphone use, appears to be related to IU over time; therefore, how one uses their smartphone may be more relevant to IU than how much one uses their smartphone.
Open Access
A longitudinal assessment of the road to mental readiness training among municipal police
(Taylor and Francis Group, 2018-06-18) Carleton, R. Nicholas; Korol, Stephanie; Mason, Julia, E.; Hozempa, Kadie; Anderson, Gregory S.; Jones, Nicholas A.; Dobson, Keith S.; Szeto, Andrew; Bailey, Suzanne
Police agencies increasingly implement training programs to protect mental health. The Road to Mental Readiness (R2MR) program was designed by the Canadian military to increase mental health resilience. A version of R2MR was adapted for municipal police by the Mental Health Commission of Canada (MHCC). The current research was designed to assess the R2MR program, as adapted and delivered by the MHCC, in a municipal police sample. Participants were 147 Canadian police agency employees (57% women) who received a single R2MR training session. Participants completed pre- and post-training self-report questionnaires, and follow-ups at 6 and 12 months. The questionnaires assessed mental health symptoms, work engagement, resiliency, mental health knowledge, and stigma. Multilevel modeling analyses assessed for within-participant changes over time. The results were consistent with other single session interventions; specifically, there were no significant changes in mental health symptoms, resilience, or work engagement (p > .05). There were small, but significant (p < .05), reductions in stigma at post-training that may facilitate help-seeking among police; relatedly, in open-ended response fields, participants commonly described the training as helpful for changing attitudes and improving communication. More engagement with the material may produce larger, sustained gains, but more published research is critically needed.