Steve Geoffrion

Université de Montréal | UdeM · School of Psycho-Education

Background and objectives: Stress is not inherently negative. As youth will inevitably experience stress when facing the various challenges of adolescence, they can benefit from developing a stress-can-be-enhancing mindset rather than learning to fear their stress responses and avoid taking on challenges. We aimed to verify whether a rapid interve...

Introduction Previous research has demonstrated the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic emergency on the wellbeing of healthcare workers. However, few research contributions reported a longitudinal evaluation of psychological distress and examined determinants of its duration and course over time. The present study aims to explore the impact o...

Background Child protection workers (CPWs) are regularly exposed to potentially traumatic events (PTEs), especially, aggressive behaviors from the service users. Objectives This study aimed to evaluate the effects of a peer support program on the mental health and work functioning of CPWs exposed to a PTE, while considering the moderating effect o...

Introduction: Police officers are often exposed to traumatic events, which can induce psychological distress and increase the risk of developing post-traumatic stress injuries. To date, little is known about support and prevention of traumatic events in police organizations. Psychological first aid (PFA) has been promoted as a promising solution t...

Background Child protection workers (CPWs) are exposed to physical and psychological violence initiated by clients. The consequences associated with exposure to this type of trauma and others are compounded by the anxiety generated by the feelings of being accountable and the constant scrutiny and monitoring CPWs are under. Previous research sugges...

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic had an impact on the psychological health of healthcare workers (HCWs). Cross-sectional studies report suicidal ideation in this population during this period, but no longitudinal study has examined the evolution of these ideas over time. Objectives: To assess the evolution of suicidal ideation of HCWs during the...

Rapport de recherche / Research report

Trans, non-binary, and gender diverse (TNBGD) people face unique conditions of stress and violence in multiple aspects of their lives (individual, interpersonal, systemic). They are more vulnerable to psychosocial stressors and adverse health outcomes. In response to stigma, discrimination and victimization, they may develop diverse coping and resi...

Background: Health care workers (HCW) exposed to COVID-19 risk experiencing psychological distress. Little is known regarding longitudinal perspectives and evolutions of psychological distress within this population. The objective of this study is to extend the results of our previous study to the pandemic's second wave. Method: This prospective...

Several studies have shown that transgender people report significantly higher rates of anxiety, depression, and suicidal ideation than cisgender people. However, very little research has been done to assess trans and/or non-binary and/or gender-diverse (TNBGD) people's coping strategies and resilience, and their specific health and wellness needs....

The use of restraint and seclusion (R&S) in residential youth treatment centers has been a controversial topic over the past years. This study explored the differences between R&S super users and normal users for residential workers in terms of individual and environmental characteristics over eight weeks. One hundred ninety-eight residential worke...

Background: Exposure to potentially traumatic events (PTEs) at work can have a negative impact on the psychological health and work life of child protection workers (CPWs). The most common form of work-related PTE experienced by CPWs consists of aggressive behaviours from the youths or their parents. Objective: This study aims to identify modifi...

Psychological First Aid (PFA) is a promising early intervention for managing mental health symptoms and providing psychosocial support after exposure to a traumatic event (TE) among high-risk organizations such as Emergency Medical Service (EMS). However, recipients’ experience with PFA remains understudied. This study aimed to explore the percepti...

Managing post-traumatic stress reactions in the first few days after exposure to a potentially traumatic event in the course of one’s work remains a challenge for first responder organizations such as Emergency Medical Services (EMS). Psychological First Aid (PFA) is an evidence-informed approach to reducing initial distress and promoting short- an...

Objective: Depression and anxiety symptoms are commonly observed among clinical populations, especially among women and maltreated individuals. Few investigations have, however, assessed the existence of distinct symptoms trajectories among clinical populations and how these relate to childhood maltreatment, sex differences, and stress physiology...

In situations where the immediate safety of children or others is at risk, residential workers are authorized to use specific measures intended as last resort, namely restraint and seclusion (R&S). This study sought to identify and detail the reasons invoked by residential workers when justifying their decision to restrain or seclude a child. Resea...

Objectives Health-care workers (HCW) exposed to COVID-19 are at risk of experiencing psychological distress. Although several cross-sectional studies have been carried out, a longitudinal perspective is needed to better understand the evolution of psychological distress indicators within this population. The objectives of this study were to assess...

Because of the nature of their mandate, child protection workers (CPWs) are at risk of experiencing physical and psychological forms of aggression at the hands of service users. For this reason, it is important that CPWs receive the support they need to ensure their resilience. This study sought to analyze how CPWs seek, receive, and perceive the s...

Objectives: Patients admitted to psychiatric emergency services (PES) are highly heterogenous. New tools based on a transdiagnosis approach could help attending psychiatrists in their evaluation process and treatment planning. The goals of this study were to: (1) identify profiles of symptoms based on self-reported, dimensional outcomes in psychia...

L’utilisation des mesures de contention et d’isolement (MCI) en centre de réadaptation (CR) est controversée, car ces mesures peuvent entraîner des conséquences négatives pour les jeunes les subissant et pour les éducateurs les appliquant. Bien que les MCI soient considérées comme des interventions « exceptionnelles », plusieurs études révèlent que...

Working in a stressful environment, child protection workers (CPWs) are often victims of psychological and physical acts of aggression perpetrated by their clients. This can be emotionally distressing for CPWs. Previous authors have suggested that this distress could place CPWs at greater risk for subsequent victimisation if they become emotionally...

This study investigates the nexus between teacher exposure to student aggression, their level of emotional exhaustion, and the role of belongingness and perceived school safety as mediators. Random-Intercept Cross-Lag Panel Models were conducted among a sample of 2,072 secondary teachers (57.14% female) from grades 7 to 11 in 77 schools. Chronic le...

Introduction. This study investigates the nexus between teacher exposure to student aggression, their level of emotional exhaustion, and the role of belongingness and perceived school safety as mediators. Method. Random-Intercept Cross-Lag Panel Models were conducted among a sample of 2,072 secondary teachers (57.14% female) from grades 7 to 11 in...

Background Restraint and seclusion (R&S) are controversial methods of intervention aimed at protecting children from immediate harm in residential treatment centers (RTC). Previous studies have mainly focused on situational factors and youth characteristics to predict its use. Objectives This study sought to evaluate the role other potential predi...

Exposure to workplace violence puts child protection workers at risk for adverse occupational outcomes. While previous studies have identified protective and risk factors, individual differences in gender roles have yet to be explored. Moving beyond sex, the present study aims to examine the ways in which gender roles influence exposure to workplac...

Background: Workplace aggression constitutes a serious issue for healthcare workers and organizations. Aggression is tied to physical and mental health issues at an individual level, as well as to absenteeism, decreased productivity or quality of work, and high employee turnover rates at an organizational level. To counteract these negative impact...

The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically changed the social and economic activities of the world. Social distancing measures put in place by public health authorities have indirectly increased the level of stress and reduced the number and quality of social interactions maintained by individuals. Because biological sex and socio-cultural gender are i...

Workers in residential treatment centers for youth are often victims of violence, including verbally and physically aggressive behavior. Restraint and seclusion (R&S) are the last-resort methods used by residential workers to deal with the aggressive behavior of youths. However, their use has been found to contribute to building negative interactio...

Les problèmes de santé mentale en milieu de travail représentent un enjeu important pour les organismes publics, particulièrement pour les personnes travaillant dans le secteur de la santé, confrontées à de multiples changements suite à la récente réforme du système de santé québécois. Les gestionnaires doivent prendre en considération la santé men...

The first purpose of this systematic review and metaanalysis was to describe rates of acute stress disorder following five different types of traumatic events. The second goal was to assess the methodological and trauma-related factors influencing these rates. Between May 2017 and October 2019, studies were identified by searching through the Psych...

Restraint and seclusion (R&S) are two types of interventions residential workers can use to manage aggressive behaviors in youth residential treatment centers (RTC). Factors related to the environment, children, and residential workers have all been associated with their use. Although research in psychiatric settings has shown a relationship betwee...

Mental health problems in the workplace represent an important issue for public organizations, particularly for people working in the health sector who have been confronted to multiple changes following the recent health system reform in Quebec. Managers need to take into consideration employee mental health within their organization in order to en...

The Professional Quality of Life (ProQOL) scale is one of the most widely used measures of compassion satisfaction and fatigue despite there being little publicly available evidence to support its validity. This study, conducted among a sample of 310 child protection workers, assessed the construct validity of this measure using confirmatory factor...

Children placed in residential treatment centers (RTCs) typically present challenging behavior including aggression. In this context, restraint and seclusion (R&S) are seen as “last resort” strategies for educators to manage youth aggression. The use of R&S is controversial, as they can lead to psychological and physical consequences for both the c...

Although a majority of people will be exposed to a traumatic event over the course of their lifespan, only a minority will develop post-traumatic stress disorder. Better understanding the factors contributing to the development of this psychopathology is of high importance and could significantly reduce the societal and human costs associated with...

Objectif. L’objectif de cette étude qualitative est de décrire la motivation au travail des intervenants en protection de la jeunesse (PJ) en explorant leurs motifs initiaux de carrière (pourquoi avoir choisi de travailler en PJ) ainsi que leurs sources de motivation actuelles (les irritants et les avantages perçus dans leur environnement de travai...

Child protection workers (CPWs) are frequently exposed to client violence, both psychological and physical, in their line of work whether they operate in the community or in residential settings. Despite this known vulnerability, research on the subject has lagged. The current study sought to analyze CPWs' experiences with client violence, their in...

Background: Serious violent acts (e.g. physical violence, robbery, sexual aggression and death threats) are among the most visible and notable examples of workplace violence. Although women are commonly found to be at higher risk for post-traumatic reactions following workplace violence, little is known as regards sex differences concerning the ty...

The Omega Program for the Management of Aggressive Behaviors aims to reduce patients' dangerous behaviors, towards themselves or others, and to reduce the use of seclusion and restraint (S/R). A previous study in a Mental Health Institute (Montreal, Canada) showed that implementing this program allowed employees of the intensive care and emergency...

Background. Childhood abuse (CA) and trajectories of externalizing behaviors (EB) have both been associated with different psychiatric symptoms as well as dysregulated secretion of stress hormones in adulthood. To date, no studies have assessed the influence of CA and EB trajectories on signs and symptoms of mental illness at the time of admission...

Investigations into workplace aggression (WPA) remain largely occupation specific, with few studies using a comparative approach. The aim of the present study was to compare the health care, law enforcement, and public transportation sectors with regards to the prevalence of different types of WPA, the perceptions of workers toward WPA, and the psy...

BACKGROUND: Exposure to violence in the mental health sector both affects employees and has implications for the quality of care provided. OBJECTIVE: This phenomenological study aims to describe and understand the ways in which acts of aggression from a patient might affect workers in a psychiatric institute, their relationships with the patients...

Introduction The use of peer support programmes to help workers experiencing potentially traumatic events (PTE) has increased in high-risk organisations in the last decades. However, the scientific evidence of its effectiveness is still very limited. This paper aims to describe the protocol of a prospective cohort study that assesses the efficacy o...

Résultats préliminaires du projet ”Childhood abuse and trajectories of externalizing behaviors among individuals presenting at a psychiatric emergency services: exploring the biopsychosocial signature”.

Objectif. L’objectif de cette étude est d’évaluer la validité de construit de la version française de l’échelle Perception Of Prevalence of Aggression Scale (POPAS), un questionnaire auto-rapporté mesurant l’exposition à la violence au travail commise par la clientèle du milieu de la santé et des services sociaux. Méthode. Un échantillon de 310 int...

Objective: Based on the studies by Macintyre and Homel (1997) and Winlow et al. (2001), this paper applies systematic observation to describing and understanding the pattern of problem events on a micro level - the barroom. Method: Systematic observation combines ethnography with a quantitative outlook. This research counts, locates, and describes...

Background: Workers from the law enforcement and healthcare sectors tend to normalize or mute their victimization from workplace violence (WPV). Objectives: This study aims to assess the impact of the trivialization of WPV on psychological consequences for workers who have been affected by a WPV incident. The second aim is to assess the moderati...

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Compassion fatigue is currently the dominant model in work-related stress studies that explain the consequences of caring for others on child protection workers. Based on a deterministic approach, this model excludes the role of cognition a priori and a posteriori in the understanding of the impact of caregiving or providing social support. By inte...

Objectives: This study aims to identify individual and organizational predictors of trivialization of violence in two work sectors: healthcare and law enforcement. Methods: Based on data from a survey conducted among 1,141 workers from healthcare (e.g., nurses, orderlies.) and law enforcement (e.g., police, security agents), individual (sex, age, e...

Ph.D. dissertation in criminology

This study shows the mediational role of adherence to professional identity in predicting satisfaction and compassion fatigue in a sample of child protection workers.

Objectives: This article further examines the phenomenon of aggression inside barrooms by relying on the “bouncer-ethnographer” methodology. The objective is to investigate variations in aggression through time and space according to the role and routine of the target in a Montreal barroom. Thus, it provides an examination of routine activity theor...

Objective: This paper aims to study nightly disorder within a single bar over an extended period, in order to analyse variations across time (n = 258 nights). Methods: The security staff of a large Canadian nightclub agreed to note detailed information on every intervention in which they were involved. Bouncers wrote detailed narratives of each...

The aim of this study is to understand violence directed against behaviour technicians in juvenile rehabilitation centers. The findings are based on a survey conducted among 586 educators working in one of ten youth centers across Quebec. In this article we will first assess the occurrence of violent acts. Then, we will examine individual and conte...