Abstract
First responders (e.g. police, firefighters, paramedics) experience significant and varied stressors in their personal and professional lives (Carleton et al. 2018a, Carleton et al. 2018b) and may be more vulnerable to psychological problems as a result (Komarovskaya et al. 2011). The use of support canines aids in mitigating psychological distress (Krause-Parello and Morales 2018); however, scant research exists on the effect of this support resource among first responders. The current study aimed to (1) assess first responders’ general endorsement of having support canines in their workplace and identify first responder characteristics that predict endorsement and (2) determine whether first responders from sites with (vs. without) support canines demonstrate better psychological wellness and psychological help-seeking. Participants included 140 first responders (64.3% males, 45.0% police officers) who completed measures of mental health (DASS-21; Lovibond and Lovibond 1995), psychological help-seeking (IASMHS; Mackenzie et al. 2004), and canine attitudes and experience with support canines (author developed). Results identified low levels of mental health symptoms overall, which did not significantly differ between participants from organizations with and without canine support. Participants were more receptive to having support canines when they had more positive attitudes towards canines in general. Although access to canine support animals did not appear to influence the overall psychological wellness of first responders on quantitative measures, qualitative data suggests that these animals may provide temporary stress relief benefits that require further empirical investigation.
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Data Availability
Datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
Notes
Although the target sample of the study was first responders, these second responder professions were retained for analyses given their exposure to stressful and potentially traumatic work environments as well.
Analyses involving the IASMHS were available for only a subset of the sample (n = 118) due to technical errors on the Qualtrics database after an edit was made to the survey towards the final phase of data collection. This reduced the number of cases available for the regression analyses involving these variables to this sub-sample.
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Research presented in the manuscript was conducted in accordance with the ethical guidelines put forth by the Canadian and American Psychological Association. Institutional review board approval was granted by the University of New Brunswick Research Ethics Board (REB 055–2019). All applicable international, national, and/or institutional guidelines for the care and use of animals were followed. The current research was also performed in accordance with the ethical standards as laid down in the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.
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Curley, T., Campbell, M.A., Doyle, J.N. et al. First Responders’ Perceptions of the Presence of Support Canines in the Workplace. J Police Crim Psych 37, 804–812 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11896-021-09477-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11896-021-09477-4