Table 2:

Prevalence of child abuse and career-related trauma by public safety personnel category

Type of abuse/traumaCategory; no. (%) of respondents*Significant differences
Total
n = 4073
Municipal/provincial police (a)
n = 1091
Royal Canadian Mounted Police (b)
n = 1027
Correctional workers (c)
n = 577
Firefighters (d)
n = 619
Paramedics (e)
n = 550
Call center operators/dispatchers (f)
n = 209
Slapped on face, head or ears, or hit or spanked with something hard1880 (46.0)482 (44.2)440 (42.6)280 (48.5)305 (48.9)278 (50.0)95 (45.5)a < e
b < c, d, e
Pushed, grabbed or shoved, or something thrown at him/her831 (20.4)205 (18.9)198 (19.3)144 (25.0)121 (19.4)104 (18.7)59 (28.8)a < c, f
b < c, f
d < c, f
e < c, f
Kicked, bit, punched, choked, burned or attacked546 (13.2)127 (11.5)124 (11.8)91 (15.7)85 (13.3)86 (15.2)33 (15.4)a < c, e
b < c
Any physical abuse2018 (49.4)523 (47.9)477 (46.3)296 (51.2)326 (52.4)295 (53.2)101 (48.6)a < e
b < d, e
Sexual abuse583 (14.1)139 (12.7)129 (12.3)132 (22.8)47 (7.4)86 (15.2)50 (23.8)a < c, f
b < c, f
d < a, b, c, e, f
e < f, c
Exposure to intimate partner violence368 (8.9)94 (8.5)94 (9.0)62 (10.6)45 (7.0)48 (8.5)25 (11.7)d < c, f
Any child abuse2275 (55.9)594 (54.4)547 (53.3)343 (59.4)340 (54.9)332 (60.4)119 (56.9)a < c, e
b < c, e
No. of types of child abuse
 01798 (44.7)497 (46.4)480 (47.1)234 (41.3)279 (45.7)218 (40.1)90 (43.9)c < a, b
e < a, b
 11622 (40.4)436 (40.7)408 (40.0)209 (36.9)261 (42.8)236 (43.4)72 (35.1)c < d, e
f < e
 ≥ 2598 (14.9)139 (13.0)132 (12.9)124 (21.9)70 (11.5)90 (16.5)43 (21.0)a < c, f
b < c, f
d < c, e, f
e < c
Any career-related trauma3947 (94.0)95.2 (1061)1016 (95.9)502 (84.9)614 (94.8)557 (97.2)197 (92.1)c < a, b, d, e, f
d < e
f < b, e
  • * Denominators vary as not all respondents answered all questions.

  • Significant differences at p < 0.05 in the prevalence of a history of child abuse and any career-related trauma between different public safety personnel categories based on logistic regression analyses.