Risk and Resiliency Factors in the RCMP: A Prospective Investigation

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), like all public safety personnel (PSP), are frequently exposed to potentially psychologically traumatic events that contribute to posttraumatic stress injuries (PTSI). Addressing PTSI is impeded by the limited available research. The RCMP are working to build evidence-based solutions to PTSI and other mental health challenges facing their members, which by extension will help all PSP, as part of the Canadian Government Federal Framework on Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. A key element is the "Longitudinal Study of Operational Stress Injuries / Étude longitudinale sur les traumatismes liés au stress opérationnel", a study which has been renamed "Risk and Resiliency Factors in the RCMP: A Prospective Investigation", and is referred to as the "RCMP Study" for short. The RCMP Study has been detailed online (www.rcmpstudy.ca) and in a recently published peer-reviewed protocol paper, "The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Study: protocol for a prospective investigation of mental health risk and resilience factors" (https://doi.org/10.24095/hpcdp.42.8.02). The RCMP Study, part of the concerted efforts by the RCMP to reduce PTSI by improving access to evidence-based assessments, treatments, and training as well as participant recruitment and RCMP Study developments to date. The RCMP Study has been designed to (1) develop, deploy and assess the impact of a system for ongoing annual, monthly and daily evidence-based assessments; (2) evaluate associations between demographic variables and PTSI; (3) longitudinally assess individual differences associated with PTSI; (4) augment the RCMP Cadet Training Program with skills to proactively mitigate PTSI; and (5) assess the impact of the augmented training condition (ATC) versus the standard training condition (STC). Participants in the STC (n = 480) and ATC (n = 480) are assessed before and after training and annually for 5 years on their deployment date; they also complete brief monthly and daily surveys. The RCMP Study results are expected to benefit the mental health of all participants, RCMP and PSP by reducing PTSI among all who serve.