Mental Health Training, Attitudes toward Support, and Screening Positive for Mental Disorders among Canadian Coast Guard and Conservation and Protection Officers

dc.contributor.authorAndrews, Katie, L.
dc.contributor.authorJamshidi, Laleh
dc.contributor.authorNisbet, Jolan
dc.contributor.authorte, Taylor, A.
dc.contributor.authorPrice, Jill, A. B.
dc.contributor.authorRicciardelli, Rosemary
dc.contributor.authorAnderson, Gregory, S.
dc.contributor.authorCarleton, R. Nicholas
dc.date.accessioned2023-01-11T20:16:27Z
dc.date.available2023-01-11T20:16:27Z
dc.date.issued2022-11-26
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.abstractPublic Safety Personnel (PSP) including members of the Canadian Coast Guard (CCG) and Conservation and Protection (C&P) officers, are regularly exposed to potentially psychologically traumatic events (PPTEs) and other occupational stressors. Several mental health training programs (e.g., critical incident stress management [CISM], critical incident stress debriefing [CISD], peer support, mental health first aid, Road to Mental Readiness [R2MR]) exist as efforts to minimize the impact of exposures. To help inform on the impact of several categories of mental health training programs (i.e., CISM, CISD, mental health first aid, Peer Support, R2MR) for improving attitudes toward support and willingness to access supports among CCG and C&P officers, the current study assessed CCG and C&P Officers perceptions of access to professional (i.e., physicians, psychologists, psychiatrists, employee assistance programs, chaplains) and non-professional (i.e., spouse, friends, colleagues, leadership) support, and associations between training and mental health. Participants (n = 341; 58.4% male) completed an online survey assessing perceptions of support, experience with mental health training and symptoms of mental health disorders. CCG and C&P Officers reported access to professional and non-professional support; however, most indicated they would first access a spouse (73.8%), a friend (64.7%), or a physician (52.9%). Many participants would never, or only as a last resort, access other professional supports (24.0% to 47.9%), a CCG or C&P colleague (67.5%), or their leadership (75.7%). Participants who received any mental health training reported a lower prevalence of positive screens for all mental health disorders compared to those who did not received training; but no statistically significant associations were observed between mental health training categories and decreased odds for screening positive for mental disorders. The current results suggest that the mental health training categories yield comparable results; nevertheless, further research is needed to assess the shared and unique content across each training program. The results highlight the need to increase willingness to access professional and non-professional support among CCG and C&P Officers. Revisions to training programs for leadership and colleagues to reduce stigma around mental health challenges and support for PSP spouses, friends, and physicians may be beneficial.en_US
dc.description.authorstatusFacultyen_US
dc.description.peerreviewyesen_US
dc.description.sponsorshipThis research was funded by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada.en_US
dc.identifier.citationAndrews, K. L., Jamshidi, L., Nisbet, J., Teckchandani, T. A., Price, J. A. B., Ricciardelli, R., Anderson, G. S., & Carleton, R. N. (2022). Mental Health Training, Attitudes Toward Support, and Screening Positive for Mental Disorders Among Canadian Coast Guard and Conservation and Protection Officers. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19, 15734. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph192315734en_US
dc.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph192315734
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10294/15573
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 debriefing (CISD)en_US
dc.subjectcritical incident stress management (CISM)en_US
dc.subjectmental health first aiden_US
dc.subjectpeer supporten_US
dc.subjectroad to mental readiness (R2MR)en_US
dc.subjectposttraumatic stress injuries (PTSIS)en_US
dc.subjectoccupational stress injuries (OSIS)en_US
dc.subjectpublic safety personnel (PSP)en_US
dc.titleMental Health Training, Attitudes toward Support, and Screening Positive for Mental Disorders among Canadian Coast Guard and Conservation and Protection Officersen_US
dc.typeArticleen_US

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