Suchergebnisse

Introduction: Child abuse exposure is highly prevalent among military personnel compared with the general population. However, little is known regarding its relationship to compromised positive mental health outcomes, particularly in the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF). The objectives of this study were (1) to describe the prevalence of overall positive functioning and emotional well-being among CAF personnel with and without a child abuse history compared with the Canadian general population (CGP) and (2) to examine the relationships between child abuse and positive functioning and emotional well-being among the CAF compared with the CGP. Methods: Data were drawn from two nationally representative datasets: the 2013 Canadian Forces Mental Health Survey (Regular Forces, n = 6,692, response rate = 79.8%; Reserve Forces, n = 1,469, response rate = 78.7%) and the 2012 Canadian Community Health Survey–Mental Health ( n = 23,395; response rate = 68.9%). Keyes' Mental Health Continuum–Short Form was used to measure positive functioning and emotional well-being. Results: Compared with the CGP, CAF personnel had reduced functioning and emotional well-being. All child abuse types were associated with increased odds of experiencing moderate and languishing mental health and decreased odds of reporting individual indicators of positive functioning and emotional well-being among the CGP and CAF personnel. One significant population interaction effect was found, indicating that among the CAF, exposure to intimate partner violence had a stronger relationship with moderate mental health than among the CGP. Discussion: Child abuse history may be an important factor to consider when trying to improve positive functioning and emotional well-being among CAF personnel.

Abstract Background Within Canadian provinces over the past half-century, legislation has been enacted to increase child protection organization (CPO) involvement in situations of child maltreatment (CM). This study had two objectives: 1) to document enactment dates of legislation for mandatory reporting of CM; 2) to examine reported CPO involvement among people reporting a CM history in relation to the timing of these legislative changes. Methods The history of mandatory reporting of CM was compiled using secondary sources and doctrinal legal review of provincial legislation. The 2012 Canadian Community Health Survey - Mental Health (CCHS-MH) with n = 18,561 was analyzed using birth cohorts to assess associations between the timing of legislation enactment and contact with CPO. Results All Canadian provinces currently have mandatory reporting of physical and sexual abuse; 8 out of 10 provinces have mandatory reporting for children's exposure to intimate partner violence. Increases in reporting CM to CPOs paralleled these laws' enactment, particularly for severe and frequent CM. Conclusions These findings show that mandatory reporting laws increase reporting contact with CPO, particularly for severe and frequent CM. Whether they have had the intended effect of improving children's lives remains an important, unanswered question.