TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2023//
TI  - Mental health risk factors related to COVID-19 among Canadian public safety professionals
JO  - Psychiatry international (Basel)
A1  - Wagner, Shannon
A1  - Di Nota, Paula M.
A1  - Groll, Dianne
A1  - Lentz, Liana
A1  - Shields, Robyn E.
A1  - Carleton, R. Nicholas
A1  - Cramm, Heidi
A1  - Wei Lin, Becky
A1  - Anderson, Gregory S.
SP  - 1
EP  - 11
VL  - 4
IS  - 1
N2  - Public safety personnel (PSP) are known to experience difficult and demanding occupational environments, an environment that has been complicated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Firefighters, paramedics, and public safety communicators were among the front-line workers that continued to serve the public throughout the course of the pandemic. The present study considered the potential impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on self-reported symptoms of mental health challenges in Canadian firefighters, paramedics, and public safety communicators. Participants were firefighters (n = 123), paramedics (n = 246), and public safety communicators (n = 48), who completed an online survey, including demographics, questions related to COVID-19 exposure and worry, the Patient Health Questionnaire-9, the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7, the Social Interaction Phobia Scale, and the Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist-5. <br><br>RESULTS revealed that risk factors for increased mental health symptom reporting were paramedic occupation, self-identified female, younger in age, COVID-19 personal contact, requirement to self-isolate, and self-perception of COVID-19 contraction (without confirmation through testing). The COVID-19 pandemic should be considered a risk factor for increased mental health symptom reporting in PSP.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 2673-5318
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/psychiatryint4010001
ID  - ref1
ER  -