Safeguard programs and mandatory mental health checks in Canadian police agencies: history, trends, and future directions

This paper traces the emergence of Safeguard programs in Canadian police agencies and explores the research and methods of delivering routine, mandatory mental health check-ups to sworn and civilian personnel in positions with frequent exposure to potentially psychologically traumatic content or situations. A definition for Safeguards is proposed and future directions for police leaders and research are discussed

Adults' awareness of coaching in child sexual abuse cases

A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Psychology, University of Regina. 50 p.Child sexual abuse (CSA) victims often withhold disclosure due to the perpetrator coachin

COVID-19-associated impacts on the mental health of canadian adults in the late pandemic period

A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Psychology, University of Regina. 31 p.During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, research in Canada reported increased rates of depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and suicidal ideation. Pandemic impacts, including infection or hospitalization of oneself or a loved one or death of a loved one, have been associated with negative mental health symptoms. Most research investigating COVID-19 impacts on Canadian mental health collected data during the height of the pandemic (2020-2021), with less research from 2022 and early 2023. Moreover, most research focuses on specific populations (e.g., healthcare workers) and not on the general Canadian adult population. The present study aims to address these research gaps by exploring COVID-19-associated mental health impacts on the general Canadian adult population within the late stage of the pandemic. Cross-sectional data from Statistics Canada’s Survey on COVID-19 and Mental Health (SCMH) Cycle 3 (Feb. 23–May 31, 2023) will be used, which invited 36,000 households to participate and resulted in a 46.5% response rate. The SCMH uses the PHQ-9, GAD-7 and PCL-5 to assess symptoms of depression, anxiety, and PTSD (respectfully), and a single question regarding suicidal ideation. The primary research objective is to investigate if a COVID-19 diagnosis is positively associated with significant symptoms of MDD, GAD, PTSD, suicidal ideation, emotional distress, loneliness, or increased alcohol and cannabis use. As a secondary research objective, we will explore if being diagnosed with COVID-19 will be negatively associated with protective factors—the measures of happiness, community belonging, social support, behavioural health, and mastery of control. Data was accessed and analyzed at the Regina Research Data Centre (RDC) using the program STATA. Descriptive statistics, an independent t-test, crosstabulations, and chi-square tests of independence were used to explore demographic characteristics and our research objectives. It was found that having been diagnosed with COVID-19 was significantly associated with greater scores on measures of mental health disorders, and with lower scores on the protective factor measures, compared to not having been diagnosed with COVID-19. It was also found that a significant proportion of the sample screened positive for each of the mental health disorders that were assessed, with a slightly larger proportion screening positive among those who have been diagnosed with COVID-19. Additionally, a significant proportion of the respondents experienced each of the nine COVID-19 impacts that were assessed in the SCMH, aside from hospitalization. The results of this study will help inform the degree to which COVID-19 pandemic impacts influenced specific mental health symptoms within the late stage of the pandemic, providing a more comprehensive picture of the pandemic’s influence on mental health across its duration

Do cultural and pseudoneglect-related factors predict professional race-driving collision biases?

A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Psychology, University of Regina. vii, 22 p.Pseudoneglect is a phenomenon found in neurologically-typical individuals wherein more attention is paid to the left side of space than the right during visuospatial tasks. The leading hypothesis is that this attentional bias is due to the right hemisphere’s typical dominance in visuospatial tasks, which directs greater attention to the contralateral side of space. As a consequence of this leftward over-attendance, individuals tend to collide more often with objects on their right than their left during walking tasks. This rightward collision bias has also been found in some driving research. However, a majority of driving collision research has been done in culturally similar countries, and limited research has been done in naturalistic settings. As such, the goal of this study was to not only determine if pseudoneglect-related factors (age, gender, handedness) relate to driving collision biases in a professional and real-world setting but also to determine if cultural factors (reading direction and driving side) are predictive of collision biases. To do so, videos of Formula 1 driver collisions (N = 54) were examined for collision side, after which culture and demographic data on the at-fault driver were obtained. Formula 1 was specifically chosen due to its nature of a professional league with both international locations and drivers, with a variety of both left and right turns in its tracks. While not finding any factor to be a statistically significant predictor of collision side biases, we did find an interesting trend of drivers from left-side-driving countries having an overall rightward collision bias, while those from countries that drive on the right had a slight overall leftward bias. This trend supports previous research into rightward collision biases while also illustrating the need to expand collision research into a broader range of cultures

Why aquatic deoxygenation belongs in the planetary boundary framework

This work was supported by the Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Scholar Program at UC Santa Cruz with in kind support from the Kroeker Lab (EMF), a Chancellor’s Research Fellowship at the University of Technology Sydney (AKP), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (PRL), and a Society of Science Postdoctoral Fellowship from the University of Notre Dame (SFJ)

The relationship between face memory and executive function in adults

A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Psychology, University of Regina. ix, 43 p.Motivated by applied applications (e.g., eyewitness identification), a great deal of research has been done to understand people’s ability to recognize unfamiliar faces. Most research on face memory to date aims to see under what conditions memory for unfamiliar faces is at its most accurate. Despite great knowledge gained in this area, there is still not a full understanding of the mechanisms that drive unfamiliar face memory recognition. To investigate these mechanisms, this thesis investigated how individual differences and executive function (EF) relate to the ability to remember faces. Using a within-subjects design, 52 adult participants completed an old/new face memory task and eight tasks designed to measure three elements of EF: working memory, inhibitory control, and metamemory. Face memory performance was measured by calculating discriminability (d') and bias (C). In line with the hypothesis, participants with higher scores on one working memory task (List Sorting Working Memory test) showed better face memory performance (d'). Contrary to hypotheses, we did not find evidence that participants' scores on inhibitory and metamemory tasks were predictive of face memory performance in adults. The significant relationships between working memory and face memory performance are likely driven by the fact that both the List Sorting Working Memory test and face memory rely on systems in visual working memory

The illusion of affection: unravelling the process of love bombing

A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Psychology, University of Regina. 48 p.Love bombing is a new term that has emerged in the discussion of emotional abuse and modern dating culture. The current study explores the relationship between love bombing, ghosting, attachment styles, and narcissism among female undergraduate students. Participants completed surveys and answered questions assessing their experiences with love bombing, ghosting, attachment styles, and narcissistic traits in their partners. Many participants have experienced love bombing and ghosting. A relationship was found being love bombed and using ghosting as a tactic to end the relationship. Attachment styles also played a role, with anxious attachment being associated with being a recipient of love bombing and avoidant attachment being related to one being less likely to ghost. Recipients of love bombing rated their partners as higher in narcissistic traits, consistent with previous research that found love bombing is driven by those who have narcissistic traits. The present study’s findings contribute to the growing literature on manipulative relationship behaviors, shining light on ghosting as a potential response to being overwhelmed in a relationship or toxic relationship patterns. Future research should explore these behaviors across a larger and more diverse sample to better understand their impact on romantic relationships and emotional well-being

Mental health disorder symptom changes among public safety personnel after emotional resilience skills training.

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 Skills Training (ERST) based on the Unified Protocol for the Transdiagnostic Treatment of Emotional Disorders. The current study pilot-tested ERST effectiveness among diverse PSP.A 16-month longitudinal design engaged serving PSP (n = 119; 34 % female; firefighters, municipal police, paramedics, public safety communicators) who completed PSP-delivered ERST. Participants were assessed for symptoms of PTSIs, including but not limited to PTSD, at pre- and post-training, and 1-year follow-up using self-report measures and clinical interviews.There were reductions in self-report and clinical diagnostic interview positive screens for PTSD and other PTSI from pre- to post-training (ps < 0.05), with mental health sustained or improved at 1-year follow-up. Improvements were observed among firefighters (Cohen's d = 0.40 to 0.71), police (Cohen's d = 0.28 to 0.38), paramedics (Cohen's d = 0.20 to 0.56), and communicators (Cohen's d = 0.05 to 0.14).Ongoing monitoring and PSP-delivered ERST, can produce small to large mental health improvements among diverse PSP, or mitigate PSP mental health challenges, with variations influenced by pre-training factors and organizational supports. ERST replication and extension research appears warranted.Hypotheses Registration: aspredicted.org, #90136. Registered 7 March 2022 - Prospectively registered.ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT05530642

Health anxiety in children with cystic fibrosis

A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Psychology, University of Regina. 38 p.Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a life-threatening genetic disorder affecting 105,000 people worldwide (Dickinson & Collaco, 2021; Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, n.d), caused by mutations in the CFTR protein that disrupt chloride ion transport, leading to ionic imbalances and mucus throughout major organ systems (Rowe et al., 2014). CF’s multisystemic impacts require intensive treatments, (Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, n.d.) and patients with the disorder demonstrate 2-3 times higher anxiety and depression symptoms than the general population (Quittner et al., 2014). Beyond anxiety and depression, few other mental health constructs have been examined in CF populations. Health anxiety – worries that one has a serious illness without evidence of an underlying health condition (Wright et al., 2016) – has been observed to be elevated in other health populations but has not been studied in CF. The current study explored health anxiety and related constructs in children with CF, compared to established rates in typically developing children. Ten participants aged 8-12 completed self-report measures of health anxiety, depression, state and trait anxiety, anxiety sensitivity, and intolerance of uncertainty. Study results demonstrated significantly higher levels of state and trait anxiety in children with CF compared to typically developing children, but no differences in health anxiety and other constructs. These results have mixed consistency with pre-existing literature, highlighting the need for future research with a larger sample size. Nevertheless, the study’s findings highlight the urgent need for early identification of mental health symptoms and implementation of tailored mental health intervention programs for children with CF