Putative risk and resilience factors over time among Royal Canadian Mounted Police

Objective Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) have a higher prevalence of mental health challenges than the general population despite having comparatively lower scores on putative risk factors and higher self-perceived resilience after completing the Cadet Training Program and first year of service. The current study assessed for changes in putative risk and resilience factors during the first three years of service. Methods Participants ( n = 490; 67.3% men) completed self-report measures of sociodemographic characteristics, anxiety sensitivity, state anger, illness and injury sensitivity, intolerance of uncertainty, fear of negative evaluation, pain anxiety, and self-perceived resilience. Linear mixed models were used to assess for changes in RCMP putative risk and resilience factors over time after controlling for sociodemographic characteristics; independent samples t -tests were used to compare RCMP and young adult general population scores on all putative risk and resilience variables examined. Results Years of service were statistically significantly positively associated with state anger, intolerance of uncertainty, and pain anxiety; however, participants scored lower on all putative risk variables examined, and statistically significantly higher on self-perceived resilience, than young adult general population norms. Conclusion The current results indicate higher prevalence of mental health challenges among RCMP exist despite relatively lower putative risk, suggesting individual difference variables may interact with occupational stressors to result in mental health challenges.