Initial Outcomes of Transdiagnostic Internet-Delivered Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Tailored to Public Safety Personnel: Longitudinal Observational Study

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Abstract

Background

Canadian public safety personnel (PSP) experience high rates of mental health disorders and face many barriers to treatment. Internet-delivered cognitive behavioral therapy (ICBT) overcomes many such barriers, and is effective for treating depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms.

Objective

This study was designed to fill a gap in the literature regarding the use of ICBT tailored specifically for PSP. We examined the effectiveness of a tailored ICBT program for treating depression, anxiety, and PTSD symptoms among PSP in the province of Saskatchewan.

Methods

We employed a longitudinal single-group open-trial design (N=83) with outcome measures administered at screening and at 8 weeks posttreatment. Data were collected between December 5, 2019 and September 11, 2020. Primary outcomes included changes in depression, anxiety, and PTSD symptoms. Secondary outcomes included changes in functional impairment; symptoms of panic, social anxiety, and anger; as well as treatment satisfaction, working alliance, and program usage patterns.

Results

Clients reported large symptom reductions on measures of depression and anxiety, as well as moderate reductions on measures of PTSD and secondary symptoms, except for social anxiety. Most clients who reported symptoms above clinical cut-offs on measures of depression, anxiety, and PTSD during screening experienced clinically significant symptom reductions. Results suggested good engagement, treatment satisfaction, and working alliance.

Conclusions

Tailored, transdiagnostic ICBT demonstrated promising outcomes as a treatment for depression, anxiety, and PTSD among Saskatchewan PSP and warrants further investigation.

Trial Registration

Clinicaltrials.gov NCT04127032; https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04127032

Related collections

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Author and article information

Contributors

Heather D Hadjistavropoulos:

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7092-9056

Department of PsychologyUniversity of ReginaAdministration-Humanities Building, AH 3453737 Wascana ParkwayRegina, SK, S4S 0A2Canada1 306 585 5133Heather.Hadjistavropoulos@uregina.ca

Journal

Journal ID (nlm-ta): J Med Internet Res

Journal ID (iso-abbrev): J Med Internet Res

Journal ID (publisher-id): JMIR

Title: Journal of Medical Internet Research

Publisher: JMIR Publications (Toronto, Canada )

ISSN (Print): 1439-4456

ISSN (Electronic): 1438-8871

Publication date Collection: May 2021

Publication date (Electronic): 5 May 2021

Volume: 23

Issue: 5

Electronic Location Identifier: e27610

Affiliations

[1 ] Department of Psychology University of Regina Regina, SK Canada

[2 ] Department of Mathematics and Statistics University of Regina Regina, SK Canada

[3 ] PSPNET University of Regina Regina, SK Canada

[4 ] eCentreClinic Department of Psychology Macquarie University Sydney Australia

Author notes

Corresponding Author: Heather D Hadjistavropoulos Heather.Hadjistavropoulos@ 123456uregina.ca

Author information

Heather D Hadjistavropoulos https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7092-9056

Hugh C McCall https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7198-9539

David L Thiessen https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1167-1585

Ziyin Huang https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9315-6906

R Nicholas Carleton https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6083-8935

Blake F Dear https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9324-3092

Nickolai Titov https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7268-729X

Article

Publisher ID: v23i5e27610

DOI: 10.2196/27610

PMC ID: 8135031

PubMed ID: 33949959

SO-VID: 0eb18ea0-4164-4231-805e-8dad92aa47d8

Copyright © ©Heather D Hadjistavropoulos, Hugh C McCall, David L Thiessen, Ziyin Huang, R Nicholas Carleton, Blake F Dear, Nickolai Titov. Originally published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (https://www.jmir.org), 05.05.2021.

License:

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work, first published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research, is properly cited. The complete bibliographic information, a link to the original publication on https://www.jmir.org/, as well as this copyright and license information must be included.

History

Date received : 30 January 2021

Date revision requested : 25 February 2021

Date revision received : 1 March 2021

Date accepted : 11 April 2021

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