This study is designed to test a mental health assessment and training program developed to strengthen the mental health resilience of public safety personnel (PSP) including public-safety communicators, firefighters, paramedics, and police, and to provide
psychological safety training for their leadership. The PSP groups include a diverse set of professionals whose mental health is at increased risk for posttraumatic stress injuries (PTSIs); however, there has been very little research to determine
effective ways for mitigating PTSIs among PSP. The study is designed to test several variables thought to be associated with mental health risk, resilience, and recovery.
The study will increase our understanding of risk and resiliency related to symptoms of PTSIs and contribute to the development of future training and treatment. Regular monitoring of mental health and activity typically improves ones’ mental health; as such, a key potential benefit for all participants should be improvements to their mental health. Survey and clinical interview results combined with physiological monitoring, should also provide important information allowing participants to identify trends and tailor activities allowing them to access help faster and make better personal choices for their own mental health and well-being. What this means is that recovery times should be faster for those who experience a mental health injury, while the study benefits by obtaining information to create supportive programs for helping others.
Participants will complete initial surveys and clinical interviews at the beginning of the study, then annual surveys and interviews for the next one and a half years. Daily and monthly surveys will also be completed along with the data collected by a seismocardiography device.
The longitudinal PSP PTSI Study extends the RCMP Longitudinal Study (www.rcmpstudy.ca) to diverse PSP, providing a concerted effort to address mental health injuries. The studies are designed to help identify problematic stress very early, provide evidence-based recommendations, and facilitate early access to effective mental health care. The development, analyses, and distribution of peer-reviewed articles from the longitudinal PSP PTSI Study are supported by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and a generous grant from the Medavie Foundation.
The ideal outcome of the longitudinal PSP PTSI Study will be the development of a world-class evidence-based system to support PSP mental health by reducing risk, increasing resilience, and accelerating access to treatment, all of which can then be made available for all those who serve. Initial results from longitudinal PSP PTSI Study are now available, and results will continue to become available over the next several years.Risk factors are modifiable individual factors associated with many different mental health challenges for the general population and public safety personnel (PSP). In the current study, individual resilience describes how a person perceives their own ability to cope with difficult situations. Individual resilience is associated with lower levels of mental health challenges. The current study was designed to assess how effective Emotional Resilience Skills Training (ERST) is at reducing risk factors and increasing individual resilience among PSP from different sectors. Risk and resilience were assessed at three time points: just before completing ERST, just after completing ERST, and one year after completing ERST. Results indicated participants at post-training reported lower scores on measures of risk factors and higher scores on a measure of resilience. The improvements were maintained for at least one year after completing ERST. Therefore, the current results support ERST as effective for lowering risk and increasing individual resilience among PSP, which may in turn reduce their risk for developing mental health challenges.
Public safety personnel (PSP) experience diverse and frequent exposures to potentially psychologically traumatic events (PPTEs) and other occupational stressors, which may explain the higher prevalence of mental health disorders and suicidal ideation among PSP relative to the general population. Consequently, PSP require emotional coping skills and evidence-informed mental health training to navigate difficult situations. The Emotional Resilience Skills Training (ERST) is mental health training program led by a peer and based on the robustly evidenced Unified Protocol for the Transdiagnostic Treatment of Mental Disorders. The study assessed whether PSP: perceived the ERST as improving their mental health or their management of stressors; applied the associated knowledge and skills; and would recommend ESRT to other PSP. Data were collected using a self-report survey and focus groups. A total of 197 PSP (58% male) completed a self-report survey, and 72 PSP (33% female) participated in a sector-specific focus group to assess the ERST. The results indicate that PSP perceived ERST as helpful when applied. Almost all participants would recommend the training to other PSP.
Public safety personnel (PSP) are frequently exposed to psychologically traumatic events. The exposures potentiate posttraumatic stress injuries (PTSIs), including posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Protocol was designed to mitigate PTSIs using ongoing monitoring and PSP delivered Emotional Resilience Skills Training (ERST) based on the Unified Protocol for the Transdiagnostic Treatment of Emotional Disorders. The current study pilot-tested ERST effectiveness among diverse PSP. A 16-month longitudinal design engaged serving PSP (firefighters, municipal police, paramedics, public safety communicators) who completed PSP-delivered ERST. Participants were assessed for symptoms of PTSIs, including but not limited to PTSD, at pre- and post-training, and 1-year follow-up using self-report measures and clinical interviews. Improvements were observed among firefighters, police, paramedics, and communicators, indicating that ongoing mental health monitoring and PSP-delivered ERST, can produce small to large mental health improvements among diverse PSP, or mitigate PSP mental health challenges, with variations influenced by pre-training factors and organizational supports. The current results support using the RCMP Protocol to help broadly improve PSP mental health or at least maintained non-clinical status despite compounding challenges associated with COVID-19.
PSP report exposures to diverse and frequent potentially psychologically traumatic events and other occupational stressors, exacerbating risks for developing clinically significant mental health challenges. Multiple mental health disorder diagnoses increase risk for death by suicide and may partially explain the higher suicide risk among PSP. The study was designed to estimate suicidal ideation, planning, and attempts among Canadian PSP, and assesses associations with Emotional Resilience Skills Training (ERST) as part of a Federal Framework on Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Participants included serving PSP (n=186) from four occupational sectors including firefighters, municipal police, paramedics, and public safety communicators. The results indicate suicide-related challenges for PSP, particularly PSP who self-identify as women and females. The results suggest sector-specific differences in suicide attempts, indicating unique sector-specific challenges among PSP. The results evidenced reductions in suicidal ideation and planning directly after ERST; however, attrition impacted analyses at 1-year follow-up.
The protocol paper describes the PSP PTSI Study (i.e., design, measures, materials, hypotheses, planned analyses, expected implications, and limitations), which was originally designed to evaluate an evidence-informed, proactive system of mental health assessment and training.
To learn more about the study, explore the links below. To learn about the RCMP Longitudinal PTSD Study:Supported by
