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Published VersionCC BY-NC V4.0, Open Access
Journal article
Mental Health of Royal Canadian Mounted Police at the Start of the Cadet Training Program
The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, Vol.68(9), pp.651-662
2023
PMID: 37131322
Abstract
Objective: Serving Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) have screened positive for one or more mental disorders based on self-reported symptoms with substantial prevalence (i.e., 50.2%). Mental health challenges for military and paramilitary populations have historically been attributed to insufficient recruit screening; however, cadet mental health when starting the Cadet Training Program (CTP) was unknown. Our objective was to estimate RCMP Cadet mental health when starting the CTP and test for sociodemographic differences.
Method: Cadets starting the CTP completed a survey assessing self-reported mental health symptoms (n = 772, 72.0% male) and a clinical interview (n = 736, 74.4% male) with a clinician or supervised trainee using the Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview to assess current and past mental health.
Results: The percentage of participants screening positive for one or more current mental disorders based on self-reported symptoms (15.0%) was higher than the diagnostic prevalence for the general population (10.1%); however, based on clinical interviews, participants were less likely to screen positive for any current mental disorder (6.3%) than the general population. Participants were also less likely to screen positive for any past mental disorder based on self-report (3.9%) and clinical interviews (12.5%) than the general population (33.1%). Females were more likely to score higher than males (all psds .23 to .32) on several self-report mental disorder symptom measures.
Conclusions: The current results are the first to describe RCMP cadet mental health when starting the CTP. The data evidenced a lower prevalence of anxiety, depressive, and trauma-related mental disorders than the general population based on clinical interviews, contrasting notions that more rigorous mental health screening would reduce the high prevalence of mental disorders among serving RCMP. Instead, protecting RCMP mental health may require ongoing efforts to mitigate operational and organizational stressors.
Details
- Title
- Mental Health of Royal Canadian Mounted Police at the Start of the Cadet Training Program
- Authors
- R. Nicholas Carleton (Corresponding Author) - University of ReginaLaleh Jamshidi - University of ReginaKirby Q. Maguire - University of ReginaLisa M. Lix - University of ManitobaSherry H. Stewart - Dalhousie UniversityTracie O. Afifi - University of ManitobaJitender Sareen - University of ManitobaKatie L. Andrews - Canadian Institute for Public Safety Research and TreatmentNicholas A. Jones - University of ReginaJolan Nisbet - Canadian Institute for Public Safety Research and TreatmentShannon Sauer-Zavala - University of KentuckyJ. Patrick Neary - University of ReginaAlain Brunet - Douglas Inst Res Ctr, McGills Psychiat Dept, Montreal, PQ, CanadaGregory P. Kraetzig - University of ReginaAmber J. Fletcher - University of ReginaTaylor A. Teckchandani - University of ReginaTerence M. Keane - National Center for PTSDGordon J. G. Asmundson - University of Regina
- Publication details
- The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, Vol.68(9), pp.651-662
- Publisher
- Sage Publications, Inc.
- Date published
- 2023
- DOI
- 10.1177/07067437221147425
- ISSN
- 1497-0015; 0706-7437
- PMID
- 37131322
- Copyright note
- This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access page (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage).
- Grant note
- The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: The RCMP Study is supported by the RCMP, the Government of Canada, and the Ministry of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness. L. M. Lix is supported by a Tier I Canada Research Chair in Methods for Electronic Health Data Quality. T. O. Afifi is supported by a Tier I Canada Research Chair in Childhood Adversity and Resilience. Asmundson is supported by a University of Regina President's Research Chair. S. H. Stewart is supported by a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Addictions and Mental Health. The development, analyses, and distribution of the current article was supported by a generous grant from the Medavie Foundation.
- Organisation Unit
- Thompson Institute
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 991105841002621
- Output Type
- Journal article
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