A healthy work environment and psychological distress among Canadian Armed Forces men and women

A healthy work environment depends on having a respectful and fair supervisor, a psychologically safe team, and a supportive organizational climate. Very little research has examined the relationships between a healthy work environment at the team, supervisor, and organizational levels and the psychological distress of military members in Canada.

Hierarchical regression analyses were performed separately for men and women to examine the roles of healthy work environments at the team level (team psychological safety), supervisor level (supervisor's interpersonal justice and transformational leadership), and organizational level (organizational group climate, organizational diversity and inclusion, and perceived organizational support) in the psychological distress of a representative sample of Regular Force Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) members (n = 4,239).

A healthy work environment at three levels overall explained 22% and 27% of the psychological distress variance among CAF women and men, respectively. Team psychological safety remained a significant factor for CAF members; however, transformational leadership explained psychological distress variance for CAF women only. Organizational group climate and perceived organizational support uniquely contributed to the psychological distress of CAF men and women.

A greater understanding of a healthy work environment will inform practices to ameliorate the organizational climate and improve the psychological well-being of military members.