Negative Acts at Work as Potential Bullying Behavior and Depression

Høgh, Annie; Conway, Paul Maurice; Grynderup, Matias Brødsgaard; Gullander, Maria; Willert, Morten Vejs; Mikkelsen, Eva Gemzøe; Persson, Roger; Bonde, Jens Peter; Kolstad, Henrik Albert; Mors, Ole; Rugulies, Reiner; Kærlev, Linda; Hansen, Åse Marie

doi:10.1097/jom.0000000000000622

Cited by 26 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…Altogether, therefore. we present results derived from 54 studies reported in 51 papers [ 7 , 11 , 12 , 26 , 46 , 50 , 62 – 64 , 70 , 72 – 112 ]. A flow chart giving further details of the literature search is shown in Supplementary material, Appendix 2.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Are depressive disorders caused by psychosocial stressors at work? A systematic review with metaanalysis

et al. 2021

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In the last decade, many studies have examined associations between poor psychosocial work environment and depression. We aimed to assess the evidence for a causal association between psychosocial factors at work and depressive disorders. We conducted a systematic literature search from 1980 to March 2019. For all exposures other than night and shift work and long working hours, we limited our selection of studies to those with a longitudinal design. We extracted available risk estimates for each of 19 psychosocial exposures, from which we calculated summary risk estimates with 95% confidence intervals (PROSPERO, identifier CRD42019130266). 54 studies were included, addressing 19 exposures and 11 different measures of depression. Only data on depressive episodes were sufficient for evaluation. Heterogeneity of exposure definitions and ascertainment, outcome measures, risk parameterization and effect contrasts limited the validity of meta-analyses. Summary risk estimates were above unity for all but one exposure, and below 1.60 for all but another. Outcome measures were liable to high rates of false positives, control of relevant confounding was mostly inadequate, and common method bias was likely in a large proportion of studies. The combination of resulting biases is likely to have inflated observed effect estimates. When statistical uncertainties and the potential for bias and confounding are taken into account, it is not possible to conclude with confidence that any of the psychosocial exposures at work included in this review is either likely or unlikely to cause depressive episodes or recurrent depressive disorders.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Control for depressive symptoms was only considered sufficient if based on a continuous score because even low level depressive symptoms at baseline are likely to confound the relation between psychosocial exposures at baseline and incident depressive episodes [ 12 , 26 , 50 ] (see Supplementary material, Appendix 3).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Are depressive disorders caused by psychosocial stressors at work? A systematic review with metaanalysis

et al. 2021

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“…First, due to the cross-sectional nature of the study, we cannot establish causal relations between being bullied by various perpetrators and the level of depressive symptoms of the targets. Although being exposed to bullying could explain the targets’ more severe depressive symptoms, it is also well-established in longitudinal studies that mental health problems at baseline are associated with an increased risk of subsequent exposure to bullying [ 22 , 24 , 40 , 41 ]. In the present study, when comparing the depressive symptoms of the bullied and non-bullied respondents, we found in both cohorts that bullied respondents had higher scores on the depression scale than non-bullied respondents irrespective of the perpetrator.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The association between workplace bullying and depressive symptoms: the role of the perpetrator

et al. 2016

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BackgroundThe aim of the present study was to investigate whether the depressive symptoms of the bullied respondents differed according to who the perpetrator was.MethodsWe used cross-sectional questionnaire data from two representative cohorts: the Danish Working Environment Cohort Study (DWECS 2010) and the Work and Health Study (WH 2012). After excluding respondents not having a leader, or being self-employed, assisting spouses, and those reporting multiple perpetrators in WH 2012, the statistical analysis included 2478 bullied individuals. We compared respondents reporting being bullied by their (1) leader, (2) subordinates, (3) clients / customers / patients / students, or (4) colleagues, respectively. The occurrence of depressive symptoms was measured by the Major Depression Inventory (MDI).ResultsThe most frequent perpetrator of bullying was clients (41.5 %) in DWECS 2010 and colleagues (60.3 %) in WH 2012. In DWECS 2010, the MDI score of those being bullied by clients were significantly lower than the MDI scores of the other groups. In WH 2012, respondents who reported bullying from leaders had a significantly higher mean MDI score than participants being bullied by colleagues. Also in WH 2012, our results indicated that those who were bullied by leaders had a higher MDI score than those bullied by clients, although this difference was not statistically significant at conventional levels.ConclusionOur findings indicated a similar pattern in the two cohorts, with a tendency of more severe depressive symptoms among employees who are exposed to bullying by their leaders, and the least severe symptoms among those who are bullied by clients.

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“…Described as the most ‘destructive phenomenon plaguing medical culture’, 1 it poses significant risks to patient safety and quality of patient care, 2 staff morale and job satisfaction, 3 and the physical and psychological well-being of doctors and their coworkers. 4 5 …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

‘It feels like being trapped in an abusive relationship’: bullying prevalence and consequences in the New Zealand senior medical workforce: a cross-sectional study

et al. 2018

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ObjectivesTo estimate prevalence of and factors contributing to bullying among senior doctors and dentists in New Zealand’s public health system, to ascertain rates of reporting bullying behaviour, perceived barriers to reporting and the effects of bullying professionally and personally.DesignCross-sectional, mixed methods study.SettingNew Zealand.ParticipantsMembers of the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists (40.8% response rate).Main outcome measuresPrevalence of bullying was measured using the Negative Acts Questionnaire (revised) (NAQ-r). Workplace demands and level of peer and managerial support were measured with the Health and Safety Executive Management Standards Analysis tool. Categories of perpetrators for self-reported and witnessed bullying and barriers to reporting bullying were obtained and qualitative data detailing the consequence of bullying were analysed thematically.ResultsThe overall prevalence of bullying, measured by the NAQ-r, was 38% (at least one negative act on a weekly or daily basis), 37.2% self-reported and 67.5% witnessed. There were significant differences in rates of bullying by specialty (P=0.001) with emergency medicine reporting the highest bullying prevalence (47.9%). The most commonly cited perpetrators were other senior medical or dental specialists. 69.6% declined to report their bullying. Bullying across all measures was significantly associated with increasing work demands and lower peer and managerial support (P=0.001). Consequences of bullying were wide ranging, affecting workplace environments, personal well-being and subjective quality of patient care.ConclusionsBullying is prevalent in New Zealand’s senior medical workforce and is associated with high workloads and low peer and managerial support. These findings help identify conditions and pressures that may encourage bullying and highlight the significant risk of bullying for individuals and their patients.

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Negative Acts at Work as Potential Bullying Behavior and Depression

Abstract: Depression predicts exposure to negative acts at a 2-year follow-up, whereas negative acts do not predict depression after adjustment for Sense of Coherence and baseline depressive symptoms.

Cited by 26 publications

References 36 publications

Are depressive disorders caused by psychosocial stressors at work? A systematic review with metaanalysis

Are depressive disorders caused by psychosocial stressors at work? A systematic review with metaanalysis

The association between workplace bullying and depressive symptoms: the role of the perpetrator

‘It feels like being trapped in an abusive relationship’: bullying prevalence and consequences in the New Zealand senior medical workforce: a cross-sectional study

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