Mental Health Risk Factors Related to COVID-19 among Canadian Public Safety Professionals
Abstract
:1. Introduction
1.1. Mental Health and Emergency Services
1.2. Current Study
- Given increased patient contact, paramedics were expected to report greater self-reported symptoms of MDD, GAD, SAD, and PTSD compared to firefighters and public safety communicators.
- Given that women are more likely to experience post-traumatic stress injury and suffer from it as a chronic condition [29,30], and are reported to be the most common elder care providers [31], female participants as determined through sex at birth were expected to report greater self-reported symptoms of MDD, GAD, SAD, and PTSD compared to male participants. These symptoms would be related to increased concerns that workplace exposure may be shared with older family members.
- Participants with confirmed (or suspected confirmed) contacts were expected to report increased self-reported symptoms of MDD, GAD, SAD, and PTSD related to concerns that workplace exposure may be shared with older family members.
- Participant responses were expected to demonstrate differences across professional groups (i.e., firefighters, paramedics, public safety communicators) based on self-reported need to complete self-isolation. Similarly, we expected that there would be a positive relationship between mental health symptoms and number of days in self-isolation.
- Participant responses were expected to differ across professional groups (i.e., firefighters, paramedics, public safety communicators) based on self-reported suspicion of contracting COVID-19, even if it was not confirmed through testing.
2. Methods
2.1. Measures
2.2. Statistical Analyses
3. Results
3.1. Hypothesis 1
3.2. Hypothesis 2
3.3. Hypothesis 3
3.4. Hypothesis 4
3.5. Hypothesis 5
3.6. Hypothesis 6
4. Discussion
5. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Wagner, S.; Di Nota, P.M.; Groll, D.; Lentz, L.; Shields, R.E.; Carleton, R.N.; Cramm, H.; Wei Lin, B.; Anderson, G.S. Mental Health Risk Factors Related to COVID-19 among Canadian Public Safety Professionals. Psychiatry Int. 2023, 4, 1-11. https://doi.org/10.3390/psychiatryint4010001
Wagner S, Di Nota PM, Groll D, Lentz L, Shields RE, Carleton RN, Cramm H, Wei Lin B, Anderson GS. Mental Health Risk Factors Related to COVID-19 among Canadian Public Safety Professionals. Psychiatry International. 2023; 4(1):1-11. https://doi.org/10.3390/psychiatryint4010001
Chicago/Turabian StyleWagner, Shannon, Paula M. Di Nota, Dianne Groll, Liana Lentz, Robyn E. Shields, R. Nicholas Carleton, Heidi Cramm, Becky Wei Lin, and Gregory S. Anderson. 2023. "Mental Health Risk Factors Related to COVID-19 among Canadian Public Safety Professionals" Psychiatry International 4, no. 1: 1-11. https://doi.org/10.3390/psychiatryint4010001