Highly stressful events and posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms among veterinary professionals: Prevalence and associations with mental health and job-related outcomes.

Objective: Explore the relationship between highly stressful events in veterinary medicine and mental health outcomes such as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Method: Using narratives of highly stressful work events from 359 veterinary professionals, we calculated the prevalence of PTSD using both the standard Criterion A from DSM-5-TR and an expanded definition of a traumatic event that included animals as victims. Bivariate correlations were performed to probe for relationships between exposure to highly stressful events and other negative mental health outcomes.

"The Damage Happens … You Just Try Not to Dwell on It": Experiences of Discrimination by Gender and Sexual Minority Veterinary Professionals and Students in the US and the UK.

Data collected in a 2016 survey of veterinary students and professionals from the United States and the United Kingdom who identified as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, or asexual (LGBTQ+) indicated that 34.5% (152/440) had experienced difficulties related to their sexual orientation or gender identity at school or work. This study's objective was to examine narrative responses collected in the 2016 survey and utilize content analysis to explore the research questions: What are the concerns of the LGBTQ+ veterinary population, and how do they attempt to resolve difficulties at work and school? To address these questions, we developed two taxonomies that cataloged (a) the difficulties reported by veterinary professionals and students in the 2016 survey sample and (b) the outcomes of their attempts to resolve these difficulties.

A survey of negative mental health outcomes, workplace and school climate, and identity disclosure for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, and asexual veterinary professionals and students in the United States and United Kingdom.

Objective: To compare the prevalence of negative mental health outcomes among lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, and asexual (LGBTQ+) veterinary professionals and students with the prevalence reported in a previous study of veterinarians; compare LGBTQ+ veterinary professionals and students in regard to access to LGBTQ+ policies and resources, workplace or school climate, and identity disclosure; and examine whether these variables were associated with mental health (eg, psychological distress) or work- and school-related (eg, emotional labor) outcomes.

Sample: 440 LGBTQ+ veterinary professionals and students in the United States and United Kingdom.

Procedures: Between July and December 2016, a web-based questionnaire was distributed through email messages to members of LGBTQ+ veterinary groups and announcements at general veterinary and LGBTQ+-focused conferences and in newsletters.