Mental Disorder Symptoms and the Relationship with Resilience among Paramedics in a Single Canadian Site

Justin Mausz, Elizabeth Anne Donnelly, Sandra Moll, Sheila Harms and Meghan McConnell
Additional contact information
Justin Mausz: Peel Regional Paramedic Services, Operations, Fernforest Division, 1600 Bovaird Drive East, Brampton, ON L6V 4R5, Canada
Elizabeth Anne Donnelly: School of Social Work, The University of Windsor, 167 Ferry Street, Room 167, Windsor, ON N9A 0C5, Canada
Sandra Moll: School of Rehabilitation Sciences, McMaster University, 1400 Main Street West, Institute for Applied Health Sciences (IAHS) Building, Room 403, Hamilton, ON L8S 1C7, Canada
Sheila Harms: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences, McMaster University, 100 West 5th Street, Hamilton, ON L8N 3K7, Canada
Meghan McConnell: Department of Innovation in Medical Education, Faculty of Medicine, The University of Ottawa, 850 Peter Morand Crescent, Room 102, Ottawa, ON K1G 5Z3, Canada

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 8, 1-14

Abstract: There is growing recognition in research and policy of a mental health crisis among Canada’s paramedics; however, despite this, epidemiological surveillance of the problem is in its infancy. Just weeks before the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, we surveyed paramedics from a single, large, urban paramedic service in Ontario, Canada to assess for symptom clusters consistent with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), major depressive disorder, and generalized anxiety disorder and to identify potential risk factors for each. In total, we received 589 completed surveys (97% completion rate) and found that 11% screened positive for PTSD, 15% screened positive for major depressive disorder, and 15% screened positive for generalized anxiety disorder, with one in four active-duty paramedics screening positive for any of the three as recently as February 2020. In adjusted analyses, the risk of a positive screen varied as a function of employment classification, gender, self-reported resilience, and previous experience as a member of the service’s peer support team. Our findings support the position that paramedics screen positive for mental disorders at high rates—a problem likely to have worsened since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. We echo the calls of researchers and policymakers for urgent action to support paramedic mental health in Canada.

Keywords: public safety personnel; first responders; mental disorders; mental health; wellbeing; trauma; operational stress injuries; post-traumatic stress injuries; resilience; peer support (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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