Experiences With Workplace Bullying Among Athletic Trainers in the Collegiate Setting

Weuve, Celest; Pitney, William A.; Martin, Malissa; Mazerolle, Stephanie M.

doi:10.4085/1062-6050-49.3.16

Cited by 19 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 29 publications

(39 reference statements)

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“…The setting is becoming more popular and of great interest for newly credentialed ATs, and thus, understanding more about the experiences of ATs in this setting is imperative. Recent studies 16,17 revealed that WPB was occurring in the collegiate setting, another popular workplace; however, the expectations and demands can vary from those in the secondary school setting. The purpose of our study, therefore, was to examine the prevalence of WPB among ATs in the secondary school setting and identify the personnel involved in the bullying acts.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…19 The research design was borrowed from our previously published studies 16,17 examining WPB in the collegiate setting. A cross-sectional survey was first used to examine the prevalence of WPB and individuals' experiences with bullying events-this constituted phase I of the study.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…20 With a Cronbach a of 0.90, the NAQ-R has excellent internal consistency for 3 underlying factors: personal bullying, work-related bullying, and physically intimidating forms of bullying. Research in athletic training 16 has revealed an internal consistency of 0.84. Construct validity has also been established: the NAQ-R correlated as expected with measures of mental health, the psychosocial work environment, and leadership.…”

Section: Phase Imentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The face and content validity of section 3 have previously been established by a 3-person panel composed of individuals with research expertise in organizational conflict. 16 Data Analysis. Data were extracted from the online platform and entered into SPSS (version 19.0; IBM Corp, Armonk, NY).…”

Section: Phase Imentioning

confidence: 99%

“…16,17 This research has revealed the presence of WPB in the collegiate setting and identified coaches and administrators as the predominant perpetrators of bullying events. 16,17 Given the nature of the secondary school setting with multiple levels of teams and coaches, fewer staff athletic trainers (ATs), and increased interactions with parents, exploring the prevalence of WPB will provide insights regarding interpersonal conflict in this practice setting. This is particularly important because of its continued growth as an employment setting for ATs.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Experiences With and Perceptions of Workplace Bullying Among Athletic Trainers in the Secondary School Setting

Pitney

Weuve

Mazerolle

2016

Journal of Athletic Training

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Context: Workplace bullying (WPB) has recently received much attention in society. Research on WPB in athletic training practice settings is limited.Objective: To determine the prevalence of WPB in the secondary school setting and explore the factors related to it.Design: Mixed-methods study. , aged 36.5 6 11.1 years with 11.9 6 9.5 years of experience took part in phase I. Ten participants (7 women and 3 men), aged 39.3 6 10.1 years with 14.3 6 8.3 years of experience, took part in phase II.Data Collection and Analysis: For the online survey, we used the previously validated and reliable (Cronbach a ¼ .84) Athletic Training Workplace Environment Survey, which included the Negative Acts Questionnaire-Revised. The prevalence of WPB was measured with descriptive statistics, and v 2 analyses were used to compare differences between groups (ie, females and males, perpetrators' titles). The interview data were examined using an inductive content analysis.Results: Of the participants, 44 (7.8%) were empirically identified as targets of bullying, though a higher percentage (12.4%, n ¼ 70) self-identified as bullying targets. Men and women did not differ with respect to having experienced WPB, but more perpetrators were male (71.6%, n ¼ 48) than female (28.4%, n ¼ 19; v 2 1 ¼ 12.55, P ¼ ,.001). We also observed a difference in perpetrators' titles, with the vast majority of bullies being coaches or administrators (v 2 6 ¼ 33.82, P ¼ ,.001). Lack of administrator support and discrimination were antecedents of bullying. Stress, depression, and sleep disturbances were reported consequences. Participants coped with bullying by avoidance and role refocusing.Conclusions: Bullying was experienced by a small percentage of athletic trainers in the secondary school setting, a contrast to the findings in the collegiate practice setting.Key Words: interpersonal conflict, workplace aggression, harassment Key PointsWorkplace bullying of athletic trainers occurred less often in the secondary school than in the collegiate setting. Bullies were typically coaches, administrators, or parents, and women were bullied more frequently than men. Being bullied was associated with stress, depression, sleep disturbances, and self-doubt. Targets dealt with bullying by avoiding the perpetrator and refocusing on their role. Developing workplace-bullying policies and educating employees on proper workplace behavior can help to reduce the level of bullying experienced by employees.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%