Mental health and wellbeing of Australian police and emergency services employees.

Answering the Call, the Australian National Police and Emergency Services Mental Health and Wellbeing Study, surveyed 14,868 Australian ambulance, fire and rescue, police, and state emergency service employees. Emergency services personnel had lower rates of mental wellbeing and higher rates of psychological distress and probable PTSD than the general adult population. Overall 30% had low wellbeing, 21% had high and 9% had very high psychological distress, and 10% had probable PTSD. An estimated 5% had suicidal ideation and 2% had a suicide plan in the past 12 months, while 16% binge drink at least weekly. Only one in five of those with very high psychological distress or probable PTSD felt they received adequate support for their condition. These findings highlight the risk of mental health conditions associated with work in the emergency services sector

Mental health help-seeking experiences and service use among Australian first responders

Objective: This study aimed to determine patterns of help-seeking among first responders for conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and psychological distress. Method: Data from Answering the Call, the Australian national survey of the mental health and wellbeing of police and emergency services, was analysed to determine mental health help-seeking associations, as well as to measure patterns of service use. This encompassed 14,868 employees across the ambulance, fire and rescue, police, and state emergency services sectors. Results: Over half of employees needing help for a mental health issue neither sought nor received help. First responders with severe mental distress who delayed seeking help reported that they needed a lot more help than they received. Poor help-seeking behaviour and experiences were found to be associated with high levels of PTSD and psychological distress, low levels of mental health literacy, and career concerns. No significant differences were found between the sectors with all employees exhibiting high levels of poor help-seeking behaviour. For organisation-sourced services and programmes, usage levels and perceptions of usefulness were consistently low. Conclusions: Findings support the importance of early help-seeking amongst first responders with emerging mental health conditions. All sectors exhibited sub-optimal help-seeking behaviour and experiences. The problems go beyond the organisational structures, policies and programmes of any individual sector and are likely to be systemic. While all organisations provide mental health and wellbeing programmes and services, they are either not well taken-up, or are not considered sufficiently useful by the people they are designed to help. KEY POINTS What is already known about this topic: First responders are known to be at high risk of developing mental health conditions. The rate of PTSD in Australian first responders is twice that in the general population. Early and appropriate treatment is essential in preventing mental health conditions from worsening or becoming chronic. What this study adds: This study shows consistently high levels of sub-optimal help-seeking behaviour and experiences among Australian emergency services employees across all sectors. Over half of emergency services employees needing help for a mental health issue neither sought nor received help. Usage and perceived usefulness of organisational mental health and wellbeing programs/services are very low

Internet use and electronic gaming by children and adolescents with emotional and behavioural problems in Australia – results from the second Child and Adolescent Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing

Abstract Background Concerns have been raised of a potential connection between excessive online activity outside the academic realm and increased levels of psychological distress in young people. Young Minds Matter: the second Australian Child and Adolescent Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing provides estimates of the prevalence of online activity and allows an exploration of associations between this activity, a range of mental disorders, socio-demographic characteristics and risk taking behaviour. Methods Based on a randomized nationally representative sample, a household survey of mental health and wellbeing (Young Minds Matter) was conducted in 2013-14. Interviews were conducted with 6,310 parents and carers of 4–17 year-olds (55 % response rate), together with self-report questionnaires completed by 2,967 11–17 year-olds in these households (89 % response rate). The survey identified a range of mental disorders and emotional problems using a variety of diagnostic tools, with the self-report including questions about use of the Internet and electronic games. Five behaviours were measured related to this activity, with ‘problem behaviour’ being defined as exhibiting at least four out of five behaviours. Results Levels of Internet use (98.9 %, CI 98.5–99.3 %) and electronic gaming (85.3 %, CI 83.9–86.6 %) were high, and 3.9 % (CI 3.2–4.6 %) of young people reported problem behaviour. The proportion of girls with very high levels of psychological distress and problem behaviour (41.8 %,CI 28.8–54.9 %) was twice that for boys (19.4 %, CI 7.7–31.1 %). Those engaging with a range of risk factors reported higher prevalence of problem behaviour than others. Youth who suffered from emotional problems or high levels of psychological distress spent the most time online or playing games. Multivariate analysis showed associations with problem behaviour and having attempted suicide, experiencing high to very high levels of psychological distress, using alcohol, and living in a poorly functioning family. It was not possible to determine the direction of the associations. Conclusion There are links between problem behaviours associated with Internet use and electronic gaming, and mental disorders and risk-taking behaviour in young people. Further studies are required to determine whether these are precursors or sequelae

Two Methods for Engaging with the Community in Setting Priorities for Child Health Research: Who Engages?

<div><p>Objective</p><p>The aims of this study were to assess participatory methods for obtaining community views on child health research.</p><p>Background</p><p>Community participation in research is recognised as an important part of the research process; however, there has been inconsistency in its implementation and application in Australia. The Western Australian Telethon Kids Institute Participation Program employs a range of methods for fostering active involvement of community members in its research. These include public discussion forums, called Community Conversations. While participation levels are good, the attendees represent only a sub-section of the Western Australian population. Therefore, we conducted a telephone survey of randomly selected households to evaluate its effectiveness in eliciting views from a broader cross-section of the community about our research agenda and community participation in research, and whether the participants would be representative of the general population. We also conducted two Conversations, comparing the survey as a recruitment tool and normal methods using the Participation Program.</p><p>Results</p><p>While the telephone survey was a good method for eliciting community views about research, there were marked differences in the profile of study participants compared to the general population (e.g. 78% vs 50% females). With a 26% response rate, the telephone survey was also more expensive than a Community Conversation. The cold calling approach proved an unsuccessful recruitment method, with only two out of a possible 816 telephone respondents attending a Conversation.</p><p>Conclusion</p><p>While the results showed that both of the methods produced useful input for our research program, we could not conclude that either method gained input that was representative of the entire community. The Conversations were relatively low-cost and provided more in-depth information about one subject, whereas the telephone survey provided information across a greater range of subjects, and allowed more quantitative analysis.</p></div