‘You are safe. You are not alone:’ gender and Social Support Coping (SSC) in public safety personnel

ABSTRACT

Public Safety Personnel (PSP) experience significant job-related stressors including potentially psychologically traumatic event (PPTE) exposures that may compromise mental health; as such, strategies are needed to mitigate the impact of stressors. Substantial research evidence indicates that social support is a crucial strategy for enhancing mental health and well-being in PSP and non-PSP populations alike. Gender differences in using social support are understudied among PSP and stereotypical gender attitudes appear highly prevalent in PSP occupations. In the present study, we explore the differential use of social support by men and women PSP; specifically, personal, informal, and formal social support. We analyse 137 responses to two open-ended questions regarding Social Support Coping (SSC) from participants obtained through an online self-report survey for PSP. Our results suggest that gender significantly impacts how men and women PSP seek help or support from their peers, spouses, friends, or supervisors. Men appeared to rely more on families or spouses, whereas women sought support from friend groups or relationships based on reciprocity and formal programmes.

KEYWORDS:

• Gender
• coping
• public safety personnel
• support

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research [13666].

Notes on contributors

Navjotpal Kaur

Navjotpal Kaur is a Ph.D. Candidate in Sociology. Her research interests are men and masculinities, sociology of gender, caste, and mental health. In her current research, she maps the intersection of historical power and privilege associated with gender and caste and explores how these intersections are pivotal to the materiality of contemporary caste bodies.

Rosemary Ricciardelli

Rosemary Ricciardelli, Ph.D., is a Professor of Sociology, the Coordinator for Criminology, and Co-Coordinator for Police Studies at Memorial University of Newfoundland. Her research is centered on evolving understandings of gender, vulnerabilities, risk, and experiences and issues within different facets of the criminal justice system.

Amber Fletcher

Amber Fletcher, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Sociology and Social Studies. Her research examines how gender and social inequality shape the lived experience of climate change through the lens of climate disasters (flooding, drought, and wildfire). Focusing on rural and Indigenous communities in the Canadian Prairie region, her work reveals the lived impact of inequality in the context of crisis.

R. Nicholas Carleton

R. Nicholas Carleton, Ph.D., is a Professor of Psychology. His research interests include the biopsychosocial measurement, assessment, and treatments of anxiety, mood, and somatic disorders, focusing on transdiagnostics, fundamental cognitions (i.e., lower-order factors such as intolerance of uncertainty), and shared emergent properties (i.e., higher-order factors such as extraversion).