Putative risk and resilience factors over time among Royal Canadian Mounted Police

Why was the study done?

Anxiety sensitivity, fear of negative evaluation, illness and injury sensitivity, intolerance of uncertainty, and pain anxiety are all risk factors for mental health challenges, while resilience can protect against the development of mental health challenges. Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) have more mental health challenges compared to the general population, yet score lower on all those risk factors, and score higher on resilience, than young adults in the general population. To help explain the seemingly contradictory evidence, the current study was designed to assess for changes in risk and resilience factors during the first three years of active service.

What was done in the study?

Serving RCMP who had had participated in the RCMP Study during the CTP completed an online self-report survey that included sociodemographic characteristic questions and measures anxiety sensitivity, fear of negative evaluation, illness and injury sensitivity, intolerance of uncertainty, pain anxiety, and resilience. Participants completed this survey after their first, second, and third year of service. Participants’ scores were assessed for changes over time (i.e., across years of service) and compared to scores from young adult general population norms.

What did we find out?

The current results indicate that scores for intolerance of uncertainty, pain anxiety, and state anger increased over time (i.e., scores were higher after three years of service compared to at the end of the CTP); however, RCMP still had lower scores on all risk factors, and higher scores on resilience, than young adults in the general population.

Where do we go from here?

This is the first assessment of changes in risk and resilience scores for RCMP across several years of service. The results indicate that RCMP are at higher risk for mental health challenges after three years of service compared to at the end of the CTP, but continue to be at relatively lower risk compared to young adults in the general population. The results suggest future research is needed to explain the relatively higher prevalence of mental health challenges among serving RCMP, perhaps by investigating how these risk and resilience factors interact with occupational stressors such as exposures to potentially psychologically traumatic events. The results further implicate their service as causing injuries.