IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v17y2020i7p2203-d336988.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Provincial Correctional Service Workers: The Prevalence of Mental Disorders

Author

Listed:
  • R. Nicholas Carleton

    (Anxiety and Illness Behaviours Laboratory, Department of Psychology, University of Regina, Regina, SK S4S 0A2, Canada)

  • Rosemary Ricciardelli

    (Memorial University of Newfoundland, Saint John’s, NL A1C 5S7, Canada)

  • Tamara Taillieu

    (Rady Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB R3E 0W3, Canada)

  • Meghan M. Mitchell

    (Department of Criminal Justice, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL 32810, USA)

  • Elizabeth Andres

    (Memorial University of Newfoundland, Saint John’s, NL A1C 5S7, Canada)

  • Tracie O. Afifi

    (Rady Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB R3E 0W3, Canada)

Abstract

Correctional service employees in Ontario, Canada ( n = 1487) began an online survey available from 2017 to 2018 designed to assess the prevalence and correlates of mental health challenges. Participants who provided data for the current study ( n = 1032) included provincial staff working in institutional wellness (e.g., nurses) ( n = 71), training (e.g., program officers) ( n = 26), governance (e.g., superintendents) ( n = 82), correctional officers ( n = 553), administration (e.g., record keeping) ( n = 25), and probation officers ( n = 144, parole officers). Correctional officers, workers in institutional administration and governance positions, and probation officers reported elevated risk for mental disorders, most notably posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and major depressive disorder. Among institutional correctional staff, 61.0% of governance employees, 59.0% of correctional officers, 43.7% of wellness staff, 50.0% of training staff, and 52.0% of administrative staff screened positive for one or more mental disorders. In addition, 63.2% of probation officers screened positive for one or more mental disorders. Women working as correctional officers were more likely to screen positive than men ( p < 0.05). Across all correctional occupational categories positive screens for each disorder were: 30.7% for PTSD, 37.0% for major depressive disorder, 30.5% for generalized anxiety disorder, and 58.2% for one or more mental disorders. Participants between ages 40 and 49 years, working in institutional governance, as an institutional correctional officer, or as a probational officer, separated or divorced, were all factors associated ( p < 0.05) with screening positive for one or more mental disorders. The prevalence of mental health challenges for provincial correctional workers appears to be higher than federal correctional workers in Canada and further supports the need for evidence-based mental health solutions.

Suggested Citation

  • R. Nicholas Carleton & Rosemary Ricciardelli & Tamara Taillieu & Meghan M. Mitchell & Elizabeth Andres & Tracie O. Afifi, 2020. "Provincial Correctional Service Workers: The Prevalence of Mental Disorders," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(7), pages 1-13, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:7:p:2203-:d:336988
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/7/2203/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/7/2203/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jelke Bethlehem, 2010. "Selection Bias in Web Surveys," International Statistical Review, International Statistical Institute, vol. 78(2), pages 161-188, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Rosemary Ricciardelli & R. Nicholas Carleton & Barbara Anschuetz & Sylvio Gravel & Brad McKay, 2022. "Testifying after an Investigation: Shaping the Mental Health of Public Safety Personnel," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(20), pages 1-8, October.
    2. Christine Genest & Rosemary Ricciardelli & R. Nicholas Carleton, 2021. "Correctional Work: Reflections Regarding Suicide," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(8), pages 1-10, April.
    3. Katy Konyk & Rosemary Ricciardelli & Tamara Taillieu & Tracie O. Afifi & Dianne Groll & R. Nicholas Carleton, 2021. "Assessing Relative Stressors and Mental Disorders among Canadian Provincial Correctional Workers," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(19), pages 1-25, September.
    4. Megan Guardiano & Paul Boy & Grigoriy Shapirshteyn & Lisa Dobrozdravic & Liwei Chen & Haiou Yang & Wendie Robbins & Jian Li, 2022. "Working Conditions and Wellbeing among Prison Nurses during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Comparison to Community Nurses," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(17), pages 1-12, September.
    5. Katie L. Andrews & Laleh Jamshidi & Jolan Nisbet & Taylor A. Teckchandani & Jill A. B. Price & Rosemary Ricciardelli & Gregory S. Anderson & R. Nicholas Carleton, 2022. "Mental Health Disorder Symptoms among Canadian Coast Guard and Conservation and Protection Officers," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(23), pages 1-15, November.
    6. Katie L. Andrews & Laleh Jamshidi & Jolan Nisbet & Taylor A. Teckchandani & Jill A. B. Price & Rosemary Ricciardelli & Gregory S. Anderson & R. Nicholas Carleton, 2022. "Exposures to Potentially Psychologically Traumatic Events among Canadian Coast Guard and Conservation and Protection Officers," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(22), pages 1-19, November.
    7. Ricciardelli, R. & Carleton, R.N. & Taillieu, T.L. & Dorniani, S. & Johnston, M.S. & Carbonell, M. & Coulling, R. & Andres, E. & Afifi, T.O., 2024. "Provincial and territorial correctional service workers: A Canadian national and jurisdictional assessment of mental health," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Ramón Ferri-García & María del Mar Rueda, 2022. "Variable selection in Propensity Score Adjustment to mitigate selection bias in online surveys," Statistical Papers, Springer, vol. 63(6), pages 1829-1881, December.
    2. Lehmann, Nico & Sloot, Daniel & Schüle, Christopher & Ardone, Armin & Fichtner, Wolf, 2023. "The motivational drivers behind consumer preferences for regional electricity – Results of a choice experiment in Southern Germany," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 120(C).
    3. Giulia Casu & Marco Giovanni Mariani & Rita Chiesa & Dina Guglielmi & Paola Gremigni, 2021. "The Role of Organizational Citizenship Behavior and Gender between Job Satisfaction and Task Performance," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(18), pages 1-15, September.
    4. Bertram, Christine & Rehdanz, Katrin, 2015. "The role of urban green space for human well-being," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 139-152.
    5. Galperin, Hernan & Arcidiacono, Malena, 2021. "Employment and the gender digital divide in Latin America: A decomposition analysis," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(7).
    6. Luis Castro-Martín & María del Mar Rueda & Ramón Ferri-García, 2020. "Estimating General Parameters from Non-Probability Surveys Using Propensity Score Adjustment," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 8(11), pages 1-14, November.
    7. Grilli, Gianluca & Curtis, John, 2021. "An evaluation of public initiatives to change behaviours that affect water quality," Papers WP696, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI).
    8. Brian Fabo & Sharon Sarah Belli, 2017. "(Un)beliveable wages? An analysis of minimum wage policies in Europe from a living wage perspective," IZA Journal of Labor Policy, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 6(1), pages 1-11, December.
    9. Kawamura, Tetsuya & Mori, Tomoharu & Motonishi, Taizo & Ogawa, Kazuhito, 2021. "Is Financial Literacy Dangerous? Financial Literacy, Behavioral Factors, and Financial Choices of Households," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
    10. Paige Coyne & Zach Staffell & Sarah J. Woodruff, 2021. "Recreational Screen Time Use among a Small Sample of Canadians during the First Six Months of the COVID-19 Pandemic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(23), pages 1-9, December.
    11. Yoo, Nari & Jang, Sou Hyun, 2024. "Does social empathy moderate fear-induced minority blaming during the COVID-19 pandemic?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 346(C).
    12. Berton, Fabio & Migheli Matteo, 2015. "Estimating the marginal rate of substitution between wage and employment protection," Department of Economics and Statistics Cognetti de Martiis. Working Papers 201529, University of Turin.
    13. Felderer Barbara & Kirchner Antje & Kreuter Frauke, 2019. "The Effect of Survey Mode on Data Quality: Disentangling Nonresponse and Measurement Error Bias," Journal of Official Statistics, Sciendo, vol. 35(1), pages 93-115, March.
    14. Lang, Megan & Ligon, Ethan, 2022. "SMS Surveys of Selected Expenditures," Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics, UC Berkeley, Working Paper Series qt7p7336h5, Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics, UC Berkeley.
    15. Curtis, John & Breen, Benjamin & O'Reilly, Paul, 2016. "Recreational Angling Tournaments: Participants’ Expenditures," Papers WP546, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI).
    16. Ramón Ferri-García & María del Mar Rueda, 2020. "Propensity score adjustment using machine learning classification algorithms to control selection bias in online surveys," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(4), pages 1-19, April.
    17. Lehmann, Nico & Sloot, Daniel & Ardone, Armin & Fichtner, Wolf, 2021. "The limited potential of regional electricity marketing – Results from two discrete choice experiments in Germany," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 100(C).
    18. Booth, Hollie & Mourato, Susana & Milner-Gulland, E.J., 2022. "Investigating acceptance of marine tourism levies, to cover the opportunity costs of conservation for coastal communities," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 201(C).
    19. Shen, Xuejing & Li, Shaoping & Liu, Chengfang & Luo, Renfu & Chen, Yuting, 2021. "Online Learning during the COVID-19 Pandemic Among Primary and High School Students in Rural China," 2021 Conference, August 17-31, 2021, Virtual 315351, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    20. Tony Ross-Hellauer & Thomas Klebel & Petr Knoth & Nancy Pontika, 2024. "Value dissonance in research(er) assessment: individual and perceived institutional priorities in review, promotion, and tenure," Science and Public Policy, Oxford University Press, vol. 51(3), pages 337-351.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:7:p:2203-:d:336988. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.