Sommaires de recherche
Why was the study done?
Canadian public safety personnel (PSP) report high rates of mental health concerns and barriers to treatment. PSPNET is a clinical research unit that offers internet-delivered cognitive behavioral therapy (ICBT) that is free, confidential, and developed with and for PSP. Treatment outcomes and satisfaction are promising, but further research is needed to optimize therapist-guided ICBT for leaders within public safety.
What was done in the study?
This study included 10 leaders within public safety who enrolled and completed either the PSP Wellbeing Course or PSP PTSD Course. Participants completed pre-treatment questionnaires to assess their program use, mental health symptom change, and treatment satisfaction. Each participant also completed an interview to gather their perceptions of and feedback on ICBT to further optimize its use with leaders.
What did we find out?
Leaders enrolled in PSPNET to seek support for themselves or their colleagues to cope with occupational and non-occupational stressors. Most participants self-identified as employed (80%), White (80%), and men (70%) with an average age of 45 years. In total, 70% accessed 4 of 5 lessons, 70% engaged with therapist support and, at pre-treatment, 80% reported clinical symptoms of at least one mental health condition. Overall, leaders within public safety viewed therapist-guided ICBT to be a suitable treatment option for their needs.
Where do we go from here?
Optimizing ICBT for leaders is important given their widespread organizational impact. Future research is encouraged to replicate this study with a larger and more diverse sample size, and to consider the suitability of ICBT among leaders, generally, as well as other underrepresented groups.
The original wording of the study was changed and condensed for the current research summary.
Original study
Price, J.A.B., McCall, H.C., Demyen, S.A., Spencer, S.M., Katz, B.M.W., Clairmont, A.P., & Hadjistavropoulos H.D. (2025) doi: 10.2196/72321
Prepared by Taylor, A. & Price, J.A.B.