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Cited by 68Mental Health Treatment and AccessSuicide and Self-Harm StudiesPosttraumatic Stress Disorder Research

Prevalence Comparison of Past-year Mental Disorders and Suicidal Behaviours in the Canadian Armed Forces and the Canadian General Population

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Rusu, Corneliu, Zamorski, Mark A., Boulos, David, Garber, Bryan G.·2016·The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry
DOI 10.1177/0706743716628856PMC PMC4800476
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Abstract

Objective: Military personnel in Canada and elsewhere have been found to have higher rates of certain mental disorders relative to their corresponding general populations. However, published Canadian data have only adjusted for age and sex differences between the populations. Additional differences in the sociodemographic composition, labour force characteristics, and childhood trauma exposure in the populations could be driving these prevalence differences. Our objective is to compare the prevalence of past-year mental disorders and suicidal behaviours in the Canadian Armed Forces Regular Force with the rates in a representative, matched sample of Canadians in the general population (CGP). Methods: Data sources were the 2013 Canadian Forces Mental Health Survey and the 2012 Canadian Community Health Survey–Mental Health. CGP sample was restricted to match the age range, employment status, and history of chronic conditions of Regular Force personnel. An iterative proportional fitting method was used to approximate the marginal distribution of sociodemographic and childhood trauma variables in both samples. Results: Relative to the matched CGP, Regular Force personnel had significantly higher rates of past-year major depressive episode, generalized anxiety disorder, and suicide ideation. However, lower rates of alcohol use disorder were seen in Regular Force personnel relative to the matched CGP sample. Conclusions: Factors other than differences in sociodemographic composition and history of childhood trauma account for the excess burden of mental disorders and suicidal behaviours in the Canadian Armed Forces. Explanations to explore in future research include occupational trauma, selection effects, and differences in the context of administration of the 2 surveys.

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  • Canadian Armed Forces military members are at greater risk of mental health disorders and suicide risk compared with the Canadian civilian population.

    “MMs in the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) are at greater risk of mental health disorders and suicide risk compared with the Canadian civilian population [3].”

    From Efficacy, Effectiveness, and Quality of Resilience-Building Mobile Health Apps for Military, Veteran, and Public Safety Personnel Populations: Scoping Literature Review and App Evaluation (2022) · cites this paper as [3]

    The Results report higher past-year rates of major depressive episode, generalized anxiety disorder, and suicidal ideation in CAF Regular Force personnel than in comparable civilians. The claim is broader than the study: it refers to CAF members generally and to mental health disorders without noting that alcohol use disorder was less prevalent in Regular Force personnel than in the matched civilian group. (LLM, conf=0.88)

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Research works printed but not linked: 7

  1. [8]8. Public Health Agency of Canada. The human face of nental health and nental illness in Canada. Ottawa (ON): Public Health Agency of Canada; 2006. [Google Scholar]
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Authors
Rusu, C., Zamorski, M. A., Boulos, D., & Garber, B. G.
Affiliations
  • Canadian Armed Forces (CA)
  • University of Ottawa (CA)
Corresponding author
Rusu, Corneliu
ORCID
Venue
The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry
Publisher
SAGE Publications
Published
2016-03-16
Volume
61
Issue
1_suppl
Pages
46S-55S
ISSN
  • 0706-7437 (ISSN-L)
  • 1497-0015
DOI
10.1177/0706743716628856
PMC
PMC4800476
OpenAlex
W2316163964
Cited by
68
References
36
Citations by year
2026: 1 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 9 · 2020: 8 · 2019: 7 · 2018: 9 · 2017: 4 · 2016: 9
FWCI
15.18
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
journals.sagepub.com/page/policies/text-and-data-mining-license (tdm)
Locations
  • The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Mental Health Treatment and Access
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Suicide and Self-Harm Studies
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Research
Keywords
military mental health, Canadian Armed Forces, suicidal ideation, major depressive episode, generalized anxiety disorder, alcoholism, prevalence comparison, childhood trauma, occupational injuries, selection effects
MeSH terms
Adult, Anxiety Disorders, Canada, Major Depressive Disorder, Female, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Military Personnel, Suicide, Attempted, Prevalence, Adult Survivors of Child Abuse, Young Adult, Suicidal Ideation

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