Mark A Zamorski1, Rachel E Bennett2, David Boulos2, Bryan G Garber2, Rakesh Jetly2, Jitender Sareen3. 1. Directorate of Mental Health, Canadian Forces Health Services Group, Ottawa, Ontario Department of Family Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario mark.zamorski@forces.gc.ca. 2. Directorate of Mental Health, Canadian Forces Health Services Group, Ottawa, Ontario. 3. Departments of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Community Health Sciences, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: The 2013 Canadian Forces Mental Health Survey (CFMHS) collected detailed information on mental health problems, their impacts, occupational and nonoccupational determinants of mental health, and the use of mental health services from a random sample of 8200 serving personnel. The objective of this article is to provide a firm scientific foundation for understanding and interpreting the CFMHS findings. METHODS: This narrative review first provides a snapshot of the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF), focusing on 2 key determinants of mental health: the deployment of more than 40,000 personnel in support of the mission in Afghanistan and the extensive renewal of the CAF mental health system. The findings of recent population-based CAF mental health research are reviewed, with a focus on findings from the very similar mental health survey done in 2002. Finally, key aspects of the methods of the 2013 CFMHS are presented. RESULTS: The findings of 20 peer-reviewed publications using the 2002 mental health survey data are reviewed, along with those of 25 publications from other major CAF mental health research projects executed over the past decade. CONCLUSIONS: More than a decade of population-based mental health research in the CAF has provided a detailed picture of its mental health and use of mental health services. This knowledge base and the homology of the 2013 survey with the 2002 CAF survey and general population surveys in 2002 and 2012 will provide an unusual opportunity to use the CFMHS to situate mental health in the CAF in a historical and societal perspective.
OBJECTIVE: The 2013 Canadian Forces Mental Health Survey (CFMHS) collected detailed information on mental health problems, their impacts, occupational and nonoccupational determinants of mental health, and the use of mental health services from a random sample of 8200 serving personnel. The objective of this article is to provide a firm scientific foundation for understanding and interpreting the CFMHS findings. METHODS: This narrative review first provides a snapshot of the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF), focusing on 2 key determinants of mental health: the deployment of more than 40,000 personnel in support of the mission in Afghanistan and the extensive renewal of the CAF mental health system. The findings of recent population-based CAF mental health research are reviewed, with a focus on findings from the very similar mental health survey done in 2002. Finally, key aspects of the methods of the 2013 CFMHS are presented. RESULTS: The findings of 20 peer-reviewed publications using the 2002 mental health survey data are reviewed, along with those of 25 publications from other major CAF mental health research projects executed over the past decade. CONCLUSIONS: More than a decade of population-based mental health research in the CAF has provided a detailed picture of its mental health and use of mental health services. This knowledge base and the homology of the 2013 survey with the 2002 CAF survey and general population surveys in 2002 and 2012 will provide an unusual opportunity to use the CFMHS to situate mental health in the CAF in a historical and societal perspective.
Authors: Margaret A K Ryan; Tyler C Smith; Besa Smith; Paul Amoroso; Edward J Boyko; Gregory C Gray; Gary D Gackstetter; James R Riddle; Timothy S Wells; Gia Gumbs; Thomas E Corbeil; Tomoko I Hooper Journal: J Clin Epidemiol Date: 2006-09-28 Impact factor: 6.437
Authors: Robert J Ursano; Lisa J Colpe; Steven G Heeringa; Ronald C Kessler; Michael Schoenbaum; Murray B Stein Journal: Psychiatry Date: 2014 Impact factor: 2.458
Authors: Miranda Van Hooff; Alexander C McFarlane; Christopher E Davies; Amelia K Searle; A Kate Fairweather-Schmidt; Alan Verhagen; Helen Benassi; Stephanie E Hodson Journal: Eur J Psychotraumatol Date: 2014-08-14
Authors: E W Pang; P Sedge; R Grodecki; A Robertson; M J MacDonald; R Jetly; P N Shek; M J Taylor Journal: Transl Psychiatry Date: 2014-08-05 Impact factor: 6.222
Authors: François L Thériault; R A Hawes; B G Garber; F Momoli; W Gardner; M A Zamorski; I Colman Journal: Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol Date: 2019-09-26 Impact factor: 4.328
Authors: Mark A Zamorski; Rachel E Bennett; Corneliu Rusu; Murray Weeks; David Boulos; Bryan G Garber Journal: Can J Psychiatry Date: 2016-04 Impact factor: 4.356
Authors: Jitender Sareen; Tracie O Afifi; Tamara Taillieu; Kristene Cheung; Sarah Turner; Murray B Stein; Mark A Zamorski Journal: Can J Psychiatry Date: 2017-05-10 Impact factor: 4.356
Authors: Tamara L Taillieu; Tracie O Afifi; Mark A Zamorski; Sarah Turner; Kristene Cheung; Murray B Stein; Jitender Sareen Journal: Can J Psychiatry Date: 2020-01-29 Impact factor: 4.356
Authors: Sarah Turner; Tamara Taillieu; Kristene Cheung; Mark Zamorski; David Boulos; Jitender Sareen; Tracie O Afifi Journal: Can J Psychiatry Date: 2017-03-22 Impact factor: 4.356
Authors: François L Thériault; Bryan G Garber; Franco Momoli; William Gardner; Mark A Zamorski; Ian Colman Journal: Can J Psychiatry Date: 2018-07-17 Impact factor: 4.356