Exposures to Potentially Psychologically Traumatic Events among Canadian Coast Guard and Conservation and Protection Officers

Date
2022-11-16
Authors
Andrews, Katie, L.
Jamshidi, Laleh
Nisbet, Jolan
Teckchandani, Taylor, A.
Price, Jill, A. B.
Ricciardelli, Rosemary
Anderson, Gregory, S.
Carleton, R. Nicholas
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute
Abstract

Canadian Public Safety Personnel (PSP) (i.e., municipal/provincial police, firefighters, paramedics, Royal Canadian Mounted Police, correctional workers, dispatchers) report frequent and varied exposures to potentially psychologically traumatic events (PPTEs). Exposure to PPTEs may be one explanation for the symptoms of mental health disorders prevalent among PSP. The objective of the current study was to provide estimates of lifetime PPTE exposures among Canadian Coast Guard (CCG) and Conservation and Protection (C&P) Officers and to assess for associations between PPTEs, mental health disorders, and sociodemographic variables. Participants (n = 412; 55.3% male, 37.4% female) completed an online survey assessing self-reported PPTE exposures and self-reported symptoms of mental health disorders. Participants reported higher frequencies of lifetime exposures to PPTEs than the general population (all ps < 0.001) but lower frequencies than other Canadian PSP (p < 0.5). Several PPTE types were associated with increased odds of positive screens for posttraumatic stress disorder, major depressive disorder, general anxiety disorder, social anxiety disorder, panic disorder, and alcohol use disorder (all ps < 0.05). Experiencing a serious transportation accident (77.4%), a serious accident at work, home, or during recreational activity (69.7%), and physical assault (69.4%) were among the PPTEs most frequently reported by participants. The current results provide the first known information describing PPTE exposures of CCG and C&P members, supporting the growing evidence that PPTEs are more frequent and varied among PSP and can be associated with diverse mental health disorders.

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/).
Keywords
Public Service Personnel (PSP), Posttraumatic Stress Injury (PTSI), critical incident, mental disorders
Citation
Andrews, K. L., Jamshidi, L., Nisbet, J., Teckchandani, T. A., Price, J. A. B., Ricciardelli, R., Anderson, G. S., Carleton, R. N. (2022). Exposures to Potentially Psychologically Traumatic Events Among Canadian Coast Guard and Conservation and Protection Officers. International Journal of Environmental Safety and Public Health, 19, 15116. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph192215116