R. Nicholas Carleton

• Ph.D.
• University of Regina

Nurses are at risk of adverse mental health symptoms due to frequent exposure to workplace stressors, but less is known about nurses' experiences with interprofessional stressors. This study was designed to understand nurses' perspectives on interprofessional stressors in the workplace. Nurses rated exposures to stressful events through an online s...

Objective: The knowledge is growing about how exposure to potentially psychologically traumatic events (PPTEs) among provincial and territorial correctional workers in Canada affects their mental health. In the present national study, we examine the frequencies at which correctional workers (n = 3,740) in diverse occupational roles across all provi...

Public safety personnel (PSP) are frequently exposed to psychologically traumatic events. The exposures potentiate posttraumatic stress injuries (PTSIs), including posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Protocol was designed to mitigate PTSIs using ongoing monitoring and PSP-delivered Emotional Resilience Ski...

Background Public safety personnel (PSP) experience occupational stressors and potentially psychologically traumatic events, which increase the odds of screening positive for mental health disorders, and the risk of suicide. This study estimates suicidal ideation, planning, and attempts among Canadian PSP, and assesses associations with Emotional R...

The current study was designed to assess for associations between self-report mental health disorder symptom change scores and the frequency of monthly mental health self-monitoring surveys, amongst Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) cadets during training (i.e., starting the Cadet Training Program [CTP] to pre-deployment). Participants were RCMP...

Background: Due to the nature of their work, Public Safety Personnel (PSP; e.g., firefighters, paramedics, police officers) are frequently exposed to potentially psychological traumatic events (PPTE) and are at increased risk of developing posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) compared to the general population. To date, there are a limited number o...

Introduction Cette étude donne un aperçu descriptif de la prévalence de l’état de stress post-traumatique (ESPT) au Canada, en fonction des caractéristiques sociodémographiques, des variables liées à la santé mentale et des effets négatifs de la pandémie de COVID-19. Methods Les données ont été obtenues à partir des cycles 1 et 2 de l’Enquête sur...

Introduction This study provides a descriptive overview of the prevalence of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in Canada, across sociodemographic characteristics, mental health–related variables and negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods Data were obtained from cycles 1 and 2 of the Survey on COVID-19 and Mental Health (SCMH), colle...

Lifetime exposures to potentially psychologically traumatic events (PPTEs) among Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) cadets starting the Cadet Training Program (CTP) appear lower than exposures reported by serving RCMP, but the prevalence of PPTE exposures during the CTP remains unknown. The current study assessed PPTE exposures during the CTP and...

Serving Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) evidence prevalent mental health disorders, likely due to diverse occupational stressors including potentially psychologically traumatic events. RCMP cadet mental health when starting the Cadet Training Program (CTP) appears comparable to, or better, than the general public. The CTP is expected to improv...

Mental health disorders are particularly prevalent among public safety personnel (PSP). Emotional Resilience Skills Training (ERST) is a cognitive behavioural training program for PSP based on the Unified Protocol for the Transdiagnostic Treatment of Emotional Disorders (i.e. Unified Protocol). The current study was designed to assess whether ERST...

Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) cadets experience high volumes of potentially psychologically traumatic events, suggesting a need of normal cardiac cycle interval data on the cadets for comparison. We characterize the cardiac cycle of incoming RCMP cadets starting the 26-week training program. The cadets collected their cardiac data using the...

Previous research assessing correctional worker (CW) mental health has seldom assessed for differences based on jurisdiction or diverse occupational categories. The current study was designed to provide a nuanced quantitative examination of mental health disorder prevalence and related problems among CWs and to qualitatively explore the varying soc...

Public safety personnel (PSP) work experiences necessitate diverse and frequent exposures to potentially psychologically traumatic events (PPTEs) and other occupational stressors, which may explain the higher prevalence of mental health disorders and suicidal ideation among PSP relative to the general population. Consequently, PSP require emotional...

Correctional workers (CWs) endure several operational stressors (e.g., exposures to potentially psychologically traumatic events) and organisational stressors (e.g., shift work, staff shortages), which are associated with positive screens for mental disorders and self‐reports of suicidal behaviours and thus urgently warrant further inquiry. The Can...

Objective: The present study was designed to provide the first in-depth, academically peer-reviewed assessment of sexual victimization among Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). Method: A representative sample of RCMP (n = 1,324; 76.5% men) completed the self-report survey. Results: Participants reported a higher overall lifetime history of sexual...

Introduction Public safety personnel (PSP) are at increased risk for posttraumatic stress injuries (PTSI). Before Operational Stress (BOS) is a mental health program for PSP with preliminary support mitigating PTSI. The current study compared the effectiveness of delivering BOS in-person by a registered clinician (i.e., Intensive) to virtually deli...

Introduction: Public safety personnel (PSP) experience operational stress injuries (OSIs), which can put them at increased risk of experiencing mental health and functional challenges. Such challenges can result in PSP needing to take time away from the workplace. An unsuccessful workplace reintegration process may contribute to further personal ch...

Objective: Despite the higher prevalence of mental health disorders among serving Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) relative to the general population, RCMP cadets begin training with lower putative risk and greater perceived resilience than young adults in the general population. The current study was designed to assess the effectiveness of the...

Objective: Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) are among the public safety sectors reporting the highest exposures to diverse potentially psychologically traumatic events (PPTEs), which contribute to the risk of developing mental health disorders. Current increases in prevalence of mental health disorders among RCMP are substantial and warrant upd...

Public safety personnel (PSP), including Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), have previously reported substantial suicide-related difficulties. The challenges raised concerns from the National Police Federation (NPF), policymakers, and lawmakers about better protection of RCMP mental health. The current study used self-report survey data to provi...

Correctional workers (CWs) report high levels of work stressors, frequent exposures to potentially psychologically traumatic events (PPTEs), and substantial mental health challenges. There is evidence of associations between sleep disturbances and diverse mental health challenges, including preliminary evidence from public safety personnel; however...

Despite the higher prevalence of mental health disorders among serving Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) relative to the general population, RCMP cadets begin training with lower putative risk and greater perceived resilience than young adults in the general population. The current study was designed to assess the effectiveness of the Cadet Trai...

Reconnaître et soutenir les besoins en santé mentale des agents correctionnels est une priorité de santé publique. Les travailleurs correctionnels sont exposés à des niveaux élevés d’événements potentiellement traumatisants sur le plan psychologique, au stress professionnel et à des difficultés de santé mentale; ces résultats sont associés à la con...

Objective The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Study includes longitudinal multimodal assessments of RCMP cadets from pre-training (i.e., starting the Cadet Training Program [CTP]) to post-deployment and for five years thereafter. The data allow for investigating the multidimensionality of volitional participation in digital health data collect...

Objectives Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and cannabis use disorder (CUD) commonly co-occur. Conditioned associations between psychological trauma cues, distress, cannabis use, and desired relief outcomes may contribute to the comorbidity. These conditioned associations can be studied experimentally by manipulating trauma cue exposure in a cu...

Background Nearly half of active duty Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) officers report experiencing current chronic pain (43%; i.e. pain lasting longer than 3 months). Most RCMP officers who report chronic pain indicate that the pain started after working as RCMP officers (91%). Baseline data on chronic pain prevalence among RCMP cadets has not...

Background: There is conflicting evidence on the suicide rates of different public safety personnel (PSP). There have been few studies that compare suicides in PSP with the general population and none that have used a detailed comparison of coroner records. Aims: The current study estimates suicide rates among different PSP and compares PSP suicide...

Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) report frequent exposures to diverse potentially psychological traumatic events (PPTEs) that can lead to symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other mental health disorders. Personality traits may partially inform the substantial mental health challenges reported by serving RCMP. The current study...

Background Within Canada, internet-delivered cognitive behavioural therapy (ICBT) has recently been tailored by PSPNET to meet the needs of public safety personnel (PSP) to help address high rates of mental health problems within this population. Perceptions and outcomes of ICBT among PSP are promising, but it remains unknown how PSPNET is perceive...

High-risk occupation workers (HROWs) are often exposed to potentially morally injurious events (PMIEs) which can contribute to moral distress (MD) or moral injury (MI). Moral resilience (MR) has been proposed as a protective or moderating factor to protect HROWs from harm caused by PMIE exposures. The current review was designed to (1) update the d...

Le paysage universitaire en psychologie clinique a radicalement changé au cours des dix dernières années. Depuis 2012, la Société canadienne de psychologie (SCP) a agréé six nouveaux programmes, un afflux de facultés a rejoint le domaine, et la productivité de la recherche s’est considérablement accrue. Puisque les normes ont été publiées en 2012,...

Les travailleurs correctionnels sont régulièrement exposés à des événements potentiellement traumatisants sur le plan psychologique, lesquels sont associés à des troubles de santé mentale. Ces derniers font état d’obstacles à l’utilisation des services de santé mentale en raison de la difficulté à reconnaître les besoins et la stigmatisation en mat...

Objective: Public safety personnel (PSP; e.g., correctional workers, firefighters, paramedics, and police officers) are frequently exposed to potentially psychologically traumatic events (PPTEs) and report posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) difficulties more frequently than the general population. The PTSD checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5) is a commonl...

La consommation d’alcool chez les travailleurs correctionnels reste un phénomène peu étudié, bien qu’elle soit reconnue dans la littérature comme une stratégie d’adaptation employée par les personnes travaillant dans le domaine de la sécurité publique. En outre, la littérature antérieure fait état d’une prévalence des troubles mentaux supérieure à...

Introduction Alors qu’on sait que le trouble de stress post-traumatique (TSPT) peut entraîner une augmentation du tonus sympathique, ses effets sur le cycle cardiaque ont été peu étudiés. Méthodologie Nous avons réalisé une revue de la littérature en interrogeant les bases de données PubMed, MEDLINE et Web of Science. Les articles traitant des mod...

Introduction Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can induce an elevation in sympathetic tone; however, research pertaining to the cardiac cycle in patients with PTSD is limited. Methods A literature review was conducted with PubMed, MEDLINE and Web of Science. Articles discussing changes and associations in echocardiography and PTSD or related sy...

Introduction Les premiers répondants comme les autres membres du personnel de sécurité publique (travailleurs correctionnels, pompiers, ambulanciers paramédicaux, policiers, agents des communications en sécurité publique, etc.) sont souvent exposés à des événements potentiellement traumatisants sur le plan psychologique. Ces expositions sont suscep...

Introduction First responders and other public safety personnel (PSP; e.g. correctional workers, firefighters, paramedics, police, public safety communicators) are often exposed to events that have the potential to be psychologically traumatizing. Such exposures may contribute to poor mental health outcomes and a greater need to seek mental health...

Objective: The current study examined variations in cardioautonomic lability during the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Cadet Training Program (CTP) between cadets starting their training who did or did not screened positive for one or more mental health disorders (i.e., posttraumatic stress disorder [PTSD], major depressive disorder [MDD], so...

Police members can be exposed to morally transgressive events with potential for lasting psychosocial and spiritual harm. Through interviews with police members and police chaplains across Australia and New Zealand, this qualitative study explores the current role that police chaplains play in supporting members exposed to morally transgressive eve...

Background: Nurses are engaged in an unpredictable and dynamic work environment where they are exposed to events that may cause or contribute to physical and/or psychological injuries. Operational stress injury (OSI) may lead to an extended time away from work or nurses leaving the profession altogether. A deliberate focus on the workplace reinteg...

Objective: Cannabis use among veterans in Canada is an understudied public health priority. The current study examined cannabis use prevalence and the relationships between child maltreatment histories and deployment-related traumatic events (DRTEs) with past 12-month cannabis use including sex differences among Canadian veterans. Method: Data w...

Introduction Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) officers self-report high levels of mental health disorder symptoms, such as alcohol use disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, major depressive disorder, panic disorder, and posttraumatic stress disorder. Participation in regular mental health monitoring has been associated with improved mental he...

Public safety personnel (PSP) face high rates of mental health problems and many barriers to care. Initial outcomes of transdiagnostic internet-delivered cognitive behavioural therapy (ICBT) tailored for PSP are promising, but prior research has not evaluated outcomes of PTSD-specific ICBT among PSP or PSP's preferences for transdiagnostic or PTSD-...

Trauma cue-elicited activation of automatic cannabis-related cognitive biases are theorized to contribute to comorbid posttraumatic stress disorder and cannabis use disorder. This phenomenon can be studied experimentally by combining the trauma cue reactivity paradigm (CRP) with cannabis-related cognitive processing tasks. In this study, we used a...

Can “resilience” protect key workers from poor mental health? First responders, other public safety personnel, and healthcare workers appear to be those most at risk of poor mental health following their occupations – but what does increasing resilience do, and how can governments protect their key workers? The contemporary Canadian healthcare mode...

Mounting evidence highlights the high prevalence of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among correctional workers. The current analysis draws on survey response data to present a social profile of correctional workers in the province of Manitoba (n = 580), Canada, who screened positive for PTSD (n = 196). We examined demographic information, prof...

Firefighters are at increased risk for developing posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and face numerous barriers to accessing mental health care. Innovative ways to increase access to evidence-based interventions are needed. This study was a case series testing the acceptability, feasibility, and preliminary effectiveness of a paraprofessional-del...

Objective Royal Canadian Mounted Police report experiencing extremely frequent potentially psychologically traumatic events (PPTE). In a recent study, approximately half of participating RCMP screened positive for one or more mental disorders, which is approximately five times the diagnostic proportion for the general Canadian population. Increased...

Background Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) officers experience an elevated risk for mental health disorders due to inherent work-related exposures to potentially psychologically traumatic events and occupational stressors. RCMP officers also report high levels of stigma and low levels of intentions to seek mental health services. In contrast,...

Objective: Serving Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) have screened positive for one or more mental disorders based on self-reported symptoms with substantial prevalence (i.e., 50.2%). Mental health challenges for military and paramilitary populations have historically been attributed to insufficient recruit screening; however, cadet mental heal...

Workers at risk: How do traumatic jobs affect essential workers? Using an interdisciplinary team approach, doctors Anderson and Carleton have a long history of exploring the impact of potentially psychologically traumatic events (PPTEs; i.e., direct or indirect exposure to actual or threatened death, serious injury, or sexual violence) and other wo...

Objective Mental health disorders are prevalent among active-duty Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) officers. The current study was designed to assess whether RCMP cadets commencing the Cadet Training Program are inherently at greater risk of developing mental health challenges by statistically comparing cadet putative risk and resiliency scores...

Natural disasters, including floods, earthquakes, and hurricanes, result in devastating consequences at the individual and community levels. To date, much of the research reflecting the consequences of natural disasters focuses heavily on victims, with little attention paid to the personnel responding to such disasters. We conducted a systematic re...

Objective: Correctional work involves exposures to correctional-specific potentially psychologically traumatic events (PPTEs); however, the frequency and impact of such PPTEs on the mental health of correctional workers remain unclear. We analyzed the prevalence and frequency of 13 different occupational-specific PPTE exposures among correctional w...

Introduction Certain populations, such as public safety personnel (PSP), experience frequent exposures to potentially psychologically traumatic events and other occupational stressors, increasing their risk for mental health challenges. Social support has been evidenced as a protective factor for mental health. However, research examining perceived...

Objective: Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) report extremely frequent and varied exposures to potentially psychologically traumatic events (PPTEs). While occupational exposures to PPTEs may be one explanation for the symptoms of mental disorders prevalent among serving RCMP, exposures occurring prior to service may also play a role. The object...

Background: Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) report diverse occupational stressors and repeated exposures to potentially psychologically traumatic events, which may increase the odds of screening positive for a mental disorder, and increase the risk of death by suicide. The current study was designed to provide prevalence information regarding...

Personalities of those entering the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Cadet Training Program (CTP) are unknown and may differ to the general public. The current study provides the first known detailed analyses of personality trait, sociodemographic, and gender differences among RCMP cadets. The current study draws data from the RCMP Longitudinal...

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...

Background: Public safety personnel (PSP; e.g., border services personnel, correctional workers, firefighters, paramedics, police, public safety communicators) are frequently exposed to potentially psychologically traumatic events. Such events contribute to substantial and growing challenges from posttraumatic stress injuries (PTSIs), including bu...

Public Safety Personnel (PSP), including members of the Canadian Coast Guard (CCG) and Conservation and Protection (C&P) officers, are regularly exposed to potentially psychologically traumatic events (PPTEs) and other occupational stressors (organizational and operational stressors). The current study quantified occupational stressors among CCG an...

The current study provides estimates of suicidal ideation, planning, and attempts among Canadian Coast Guard personnel and Canadian Conservation and Protection Officers. Participants (n = 385; 59% men) completed a self-report survey that collected past-year and lifetime estimates of suicidal ideation, planning, attempts, sociodemographic informatio...

Public Safety Personnel (PSP) including members of the Canadian Coast Guard (CCG) and Conservation and Protection (C&P) officers, are regularly exposed to potentially psychologically traumatic events (PPTEs) and other occupational stressors. Several mental health training programs (e.g., critical incident stress management [CISM], critical incident...

Background Public safety personnel (PSP) are exposed to potentially psychologically traumatic events (PPTE) far more often than the general public, which increases the risk for various post-traumatic stress injuries (PTSIs). While there are many evidence-based psychological interventions for PTSI, the effectiveness of each intervention for PSP rema...

Canadian public safety personnel (PSP) screen positive for one or more mental health disorders, based on self-reported symptoms, at a prevalence much greater (i.e., 44.5%) than the diagnostic prevalence for the general public (10.1%). Potentially psychologically traumatic event (PPTE) exposures and occupational stressors increase the risks of devel...

Canadian Public Safety Personnel (PSP) (i.e., municipal/provincial police, firefighters, paramedics, Royal Canadian Mounted Police, correctional workers, dispatchers) report frequent and varied exposures to potentially psychologically traumatic events (PPTEs). Exposure to PPTEs may be one explanation for the symptoms of mental health disorders prev...

Public safety personnel (PSP) often experience stress due to their occupational demands that affect the family environment (e.g., work-family conflict, marital breakdown, disruption to home routines, and holidays). A substantial base of research has focused on the impact of PSP work on the marital relationship, but fewer studies have focused specif...

In this editorial, we draw on two Canadian cases to interrogate how mass causality events and investigations consume many responders before (e.g., public safety communicators, detachment service assistants), during (e.g., police, fire, paramedics), and after the incident (e.g., coroners, correctional workers, media coverage). Their well-being may s...

Self-compassion is the ability to offer oneself kindness and compassion in response to failure, suffering, or insecurity. Learning how to be self-compassionate through self-compassion training appears effective for improving psychological well-being in community samples and promising for clinical populations. The current randomized controlled trial...

Le personnel affecté à la sécurité publique (PSP) est souvent exposé à des situations potentiellement traumatisantes sur le plan psychologique. L’exposition fréquente à des événements traumatisants est associée à une prévalence élevée de symptômes de problèmes de santé mentale parmi le PSP, et la stigmatisation est associée à des niveaux inférieurs...

nato’ we ho win is a trauma-and-violence-informed artistic and cultural intervention for Indigenous women who have experienced intimate partner violence. The results of this study provide evidence that engagement in nato’ we ho win had a positive impact on participants’ well-being. Participants completed self-report questionnaires at intake, post-i...

Background Researchers and practitioners have begun to recognize and empirically examine the mental health challenges facing public safety personnel (PSP). Empirical results from longitudinal data collection among PSP remains extremely scant, particularly for institutional correctional workers. We designed the current study to assess the mental hea...

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. In this protocol paper, we describe the RCMP Study, part of the concerted effo...

Les membres de la Gendarmerie royale du Canada (GRC), comme l’ensemble du personnel de la sécurité publique, sont fréquemment exposés à des événements potentiellement traumatiques sur le plan psychologique qui contribuent à la survenue de blessures de stress post­traumatique. Le peu de travaux de recherche disponibles sur le sujet limite l’étude de...

Background—Public safety personnel (PSP) are at heightened risk of developing mental health challenges due to exposures to diverse stressors including potentially psychologically traumatic experiences. An increased focus on protecting PSP mental health has prompted demand for interventions designed to enhance resilience. While hundreds of available...

Introduction Public safety personnel (PSP; e.g., correctional employees, firefighters, paramedics, police, public safety communicators [PSC]) are regularly exposed to diverse risks; as such, PSP professions may attract and retain people with personalities that differ relative to each other and the general public. The current study provides the firs...

Public safety personnel (PSP) are frequently exposed to potentially psychologically traumatic events (PPTEs) which can impact mental health. To help mitigate the negative effects of PPTEs, PSP commonly rely on peer support. Peer support generally refers to a wide variety of mental health resources that offer social or emotional assistance to a peer...

Internet-delivered cognitive behavioral therapy (ICBT) is effective when tailored to meet the needs of public safety personnel (PSP). Nevertheless, there is limited research on the nature of the occupational stressors faced by PSP who seek ICBT and how PSP use ICBT to address occupational stressors. We provided tailored ICBT to PSP (N = 126; 54% wo...

Introduction: Recent research evidence indicates increased mental health needs among canadian armed Forces (caF) personnel. Research evidence also indicates that a portion of caF personnel with mental health needs do not seek professional mental health care or significantly delay initiating treatment. the current study was designed to examine indiv...

Article Open Access: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-022-01534-4 The aim of this research was to describe the evidence examining the approaches taken by mental health providers (MHPs) and chaplains to address symptoms related to moral injury (MI) or exposure to potentially morally injurious events (PMIEs). This research also considers the implicatio...

Public safety personnel (PSP) experience a disproportionately high number of on-the-job stressors compared to the general population. PSP develop self-initiated actions, or coping strategies , that either confront the situation (approach strategies) or avoid the situation (avoidance strategies) to reduce the impact of stressors on their well-being....

We know little about potentially psychologically traumatic events (PPTE) exposures among provincial correctional workers in diverse occupational positions and even less regarding how exposure to events are associated with mental health disorders. We designed the current study to unpack and quantify estimates of the frequencies that correctional wor...

Aims: We explore social and relational dynamics tied to an unexplored potentially psychologically traumatic event (PPTE) that can impact nurses' well-being and sense of their occupational responsibilities: namely, the moral, ethical, or professional dilemmas encountered in their occupational work. Design: We used a semi-constructed grounded theo...

Objective: We examined the prevalence of mental health disorders and suicidal behaviours (ideation, planning and attempts) among a sample of provincial correctional workers in Manitoba. Methods: Self-reported mental health data from a survey on correctional worker mental health and well-being were analyzed for 491 correctional workers. Results:...

Public Safety Personnel (PSP) experience significant job-related stressors including potentially psychologically traumatic event (PPTE) exposures that may compromise mental health; as such, strategies are needed to mitigate the impact of stressors. Substantial research evidence indicates that social support is a crucial strategy for enhancing menta...