Longitudinal study of Canadian correctional workers' wellbeing, organizations, roles and knowledge (CCWORK): Baseline demographics and prevalence of mental health disorders.

Background: Researchers and practitioners have begun to recognize and empirically examine the mental health challenges facing public safety personnel (PSP). Empirical results from longitudinal data collection among PSP remains extremely scant, particularly for institutional correctional workers. We designed the current study to assess the mental health of Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) correctional officer recruits (CORs) across time to help clarify potential challenges to or protective factors for mental health across correctional officer (CO) careers. Methods: The current study uses data from the Canadian Correctional Workers' Wellbeing, Organizations, Roles, and Knowledge (CCWORK) study. The study uses a longitudinal design with self-report surveys administered online prior to CORs beginning the CSC Correctional Training Program. Initial baseline survey data were used to assess demographic information and mental health symptoms endorsed at the outset of the training program. Results: Participating CORs (n = 265; 40% female; age = 32.8, SD = 9.1) began training between August 2018 and July 2021. Participants were less likely to screen positive for one or more current mental health disorders (i.e., 4.9%) than previously published rates for serving correctional officers (i.e., 54.6%), including reporting lower rates of posttraumatic stress disorder (i.e., 2.4 vs. 29.1%) and major depressive disorder (i.e., 1.9 vs. 31.1%). Conclusion/Impact: Prevalence of positive screens for current mental health disorders in CORs appears lower than for the general population, and significantly lower than for serving correctional officers. The current results suggest an important causal relationship may exist between correctional work and detrimental mental health outcomes. Maintaining the mental health of correctional officers may require institutionally-supported proactive and responsive multimodal activities.

A Pilot Study Assessing the Effects of Goal Management Training on Cognitive Functions among Individuals with Major Depressive Disorder and the Effect of Post-Traumatic Symptoms on Response to Intervention.

Recent meta-analyses highlight alterations in cognitive functioning among individuals with major depressive disorder (MDD), with performance deficits observed across multiple cognitive domains including executive functioning, memory, and attention. Moreover, impaired concentration is a formal diagnostic criterion for a major depressive episode. Notably, cognitive impairment is reported frequently in MDD and is associated with poor treatment response. Despite this knowledge, research examining the effectiveness of top-down, adjunctive treatments for cognitive dysfunction in MDD remains in its infancy. The primary aim of the present study was to perform a pilot investigation of the implementation of a standardized cognitive remediation program, Goal Management Training (GMT), among individuals with a primary diagnosis of MDD. A secondary aim was to explore how comorbid symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among those MDD patients exposed to trauma may affect treatment response. A final sample of thirty individuals were randomized to either participate in the nine-week GMT program (active group; n = 16) or to complete a nine-week waiting period (waitlist control; n = 14). One participant was excluded from the GMT group analysis following study completion due to meeting an exclusion criteria. In total, 60% of the individuals allocated to the GMT program were trauma exposed (n = 9). Groups were assessed at baseline, post-treatment, and at three-month follow-up. The assessment comprised neuropsychological tasks assessing a variety of cognitive domains, subjective measures of functioning and symptom severity, as well as a clinical interview to establish a primary diagnosis of MDD. Significant gains in processing speed, attention/concentration, and response inhibition were observed for the participants in the GMT condition relative to participants in the waitlist control condition. Individuals in the GMT condition also reported improvements in subjective cognitive functioning from baseline to post-treatment. Heightened PTSD symptom severity was associated with reduced response to treatment with respect to the domain of processing speed. The results of this pilot investigation highlight not only the potential utility of GMT as an augmentative treatment in MDD, but also highlight the contribution of comorbid symptoms of PTSD to diminished treatment response among trauma-exposed individuals with MDD. The study is limited primarily by its small pilot sample and the absence of a program evaluation component to gauge participant opinions and feedback of the treatment protocol.

Familiarity Deficits for Words and Objects in Amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment in a Context Minimizing the Role of Recollection.

OBJECTIVES: Amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) is associated with cortical thinning in perirhinal and entorhinal cortices, key regions of the brain supporting familiarity. Individuals with aMCI demonstrate familiarity deficits in their behavior, often repeating questions in the same conversation. While familiarity deficits in healthy aging are minimal, past studies measuring familiarity in aMCI have mixed results, perhaps due to the influence of recollection. We therefore used a paradigm that minimized the influence of recollection, and hypothesized that familiarity would be impaired in aMCI relative to age-matched controls, but not in healthy older adults relative to younger adults. We also hypothesized that familiarity deficits in aMCI would be greater for objects than words because the perirhinal cortex plays a significant role in visual discrimination. METHODS: A sample of 36 younger adults, 38 cognitively intact older adults, and 30 older adults with aMCI made absolute frequency judgments for words and objects seen a variable number of times in an incidental encoding task. Estimates of familiarity were derived from correlating participants' frequency judgments with the actual frequency of presentation. RESULTS: Familiarity was largely spared in healthy aging, with minor deficits in familiarity for words. Familiarity deficits were evident in aMCI comparably for words and objects. DISCUSSION: The present research underscores the need to study familiarity in contexts minimizing recollection, particularly when comparing groups with different levels of recollection, and adds to our understanding of the phenomenology of aMCI. Familiarity deficits may provide an early biomarker of dementia risk.