Associations Between Problematic Anger and Mental Health Disorders Among a Sample of Canadian Public Safety Personnel from Diverse Sectors

In contrast to anger, a natural and often adaptive emotion, problematic anger is difficult to predict and regulate in a healthy manner. Emerging evidence from studies with military personnel and veterans indicates that problematic anger often leads to significant functional impairment and is linked to exposures to potentially psychologically traumatic events (PPTEs) and a range of mental health disorders. By virtue of their work, public safety personnel (PSP) are exposed to numerous PPTEs and may therefore be at a similarly elevated risk for problematic anger. The current study was designed to assess the prevalence of problematic anger and associations between problematic anger and mental health disorder symptoms among Canadian PSP, extending research with problematic anger among Canadian military personnel and Veterans.

Serving correctional workers, firefighters, paramedics, municipal/provincial police, and Royal Canadian Mounted Police completed measures of problematic anger, mental health disorder symptoms, and sociodemographic characteristics via an online self-report survey. Descriptive statistics examined the prevalence of problematic anger and mental health disorder symptoms; bivariate correlations assessed for associations between problematic anger and mental health disorder symptoms; and linear and logistic regressions assessed for associations between problematic anger and mental health disorder symptoms and positive screens, respectively, controlling for sociodemographic covariates.

Problematic anger was associated with every mental health outcome assessed and remained a strong predictor of positive screens after controlling for sociodemographic factors.

These findings reinforce problematic anger as a common, clinically relevant mechanism linking PPTE exposure to mental health challenges across trauma‑exposed professions.