O-177 Prevalence and outcomes of exposure to client-perpetrated violence in the child welfare service: comparison of two different measurement methods

Abstract

Introduction Client-perpetrated violence is a detrimental workplace hazard among child-welfare workers. As an important first step in providing them a healthy and safe work environment, it is essential to ensure that implemented procedures are based on a proper assessment of what this exposure entails, and how prominent the exposure is. Material and Methods Utilizing a probability sample of 660 Norwegian public sector child welfare workers, this study investigates how two different measurement methods of clientperpetrated violence influence findings on both prevalence rates and mental health related outcomes (e.g., anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress [PTS]).Results Using a single-item self-labeling approach, 15.4% reported exposure to physical violence, while 19.3% reported exposure to threats. In contrast, utilizing a 15-item behavioral inventory revealed prevalence rates ranging from 4.4% to 65.7%. Comparing these methods uncovered a high number of false negatives whereby 62.2% of those who indicated that they had not experienced any workplace violence when answering the single-item questions reported being exposed 1 to 2 times when responding to the behavioral inventory. Furthermore, the behavioral inventory revealed that the most frequently occurring actions were direct and indirect forms of threats (24.5%-65.7%), while the least reported behaviors were threats and violence including objects (4.4.%-9.1%). Although client-perpetrated violence was significantly associated with mental health problems for both assessment methods, the magnitude of the effect sizes differed substantially from h2 = .000 to h2 = .121. Conclusion These findings emphasize how the decision of which measurement methods to use in studies of workplace violence will have significant consequences both on the overall assessment of prevalence rates, as well as on results of associated outcomes. Consequently, the choice of measurement method has practical implications for uncovering how prominent the phenomenon is, as well as the way in which this negative workplace exposure is subsequently addressed.