Assessing the Perceptions and Impact of Critical Incident Stress Management Peer Support among Firefighters and Paramedics in Canada

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dc.contributor.authorPrice, Jill, A. B.
dc.contributor.authorLandry, Caeleigh, A.
dc.contributor.authorSych, Jeff
dc.contributor.authorMcNeil, Malcolm
dc.contributor.authorStelnicki, Andrea, M.
dc.contributor.authorAsmundson, Aleiia, J.N.
dc.contributor.authorCarleton, R. Nicholas
dc.date.accessioned2023-01-30T17:08:57Z
dc.date.available2023-01-30T17:08:57Z
dc.date.issued2022-04-20
dc.description© 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).en_US
dc.description.abstractRelative to the general population, public safety personnel (PSP) appear at an increased risk of developing mental health challenges as a result of repeated exposure to potentially psychologically traumatic events (PPTEs). To help mitigate the impact of PPTEs on PSP mental health, many PSP agencies have implemented diverse peer support despite limited empirical evidence. The current study was designed to expand the empirical evidence surrounding peer support by investigating one of the most widely used and structured peer support resources: Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM). Specifically, the current study with integrated firefighters and paramedics assessed (a) the prevalence of mental disorders; (b) perceptions of high fidelity CISM peer support; and (c) the comparative associations of CISM with high fidelity (n = 91) versus unknown fidelity (n = 60) versus no CISM (n = 64) and mental health. Results indicated that (a) mental disorders are prevalent among PSP irrespective of gender, age, and years of service; (b) participants perceived CISM peer support as offering beneficial and valuable tools (e.g., skills and coping strategies); and (c) high fidelity CISM environments offer some mental health benefits to individuals who screen positive for alcohol use disorder and generalized anxiety disorder. Overall, the current study offers novel information that can inform future directions for evidence-based peer support and policy decisions designed to support the mental health of PSP.en_US
dc.description.authorstatusFacultyen_US
dc.description.peerreviewyesen_US
dc.description.sponsorshipThis research was funded by an Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Futures Grant (#095244776) as awarded by the Alberta Government.en_US
dc.identifier.citationPrice, J. A. B., Landry, C. A., Sych, J., McNeill, M., Stelnicki, A. M., Asmundson, A. J. N., & Carleton, R. N. (2022). Assessing the Perceptions and Impact of Critical Incident Stress Management Peer Support among Firefighters and Paramedics in Canada. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19, 4976. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19094976en_US
dc.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19094976
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10294/15601
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.publisherMultidisciplinary Digital Publishing Instituteen_US
dc.rightsAttribution 4.0 International*
dc.rights.urihttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/*
dc.subjectCritical Incident Stress Managementen_US
dc.subjectpeer supporten_US
dc.subjectmental disordersen_US
dc.subjectmental healthen_US
dc.subjectpublic safety personnelen_US
dc.titleAssessing the Perceptions and Impact of Critical Incident Stress Management Peer Support among Firefighters and Paramedics in Canadaen_US
dc.typeArticleen_US
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