How long does it last? Prior victimization from workplace bullying moderates the relationship between daily exposure to negative acts and subsequent depressed mood

Healing the wounds of workplace bullying: Evaluating mental health and workplace participation among victims seeking treatment for common mental disorders

BACKGROUND

Victims of workplace bullying represent a group characterised by severe negative health complaints at risk of losing their foothold in working life. To date, very few studies have investigated the effect of psychological treatment of the health-related problems often facing victims of bullying.

OBJECTIVE

The aim was to investigate if victims of workplace bullying suffering from common mental disorders (CMD) benefit from clinical treatment for their mental health problems at an outpatient clinic treating patients using Metacognitive or Cognitive Behavioural Therapy with work-focus. Criteria were symptom reduction and change in workplace participation. Comparisons were made between the victims of workplace bullying with CMD, a wait-list control group consisting of patients who had also been exposed to bullying yet now awaiting treatment, and other patients not exposed to bullying.

METHODS

The sample comprised of 405 patients from an outpatient clinic in Norway. The study used a naturalistic observational design and data was collected pre-treatment and post-treatment.

RESULTS

The results showed the treatment to be effective in symptom reduction for victims of bullying to a similar degree as patients otherwise not exposed to bullying. Even more, victims receiving treatment had a larger improvement compared to the wait-list control group (p < 0.001). Yet, among patients on sick leave pre-treatment, fewer victims of bullying were fully working by the end of treatment compared to the patients not exposed to workplace bullying.

CONCLUSION

The findings provide ground for optimism for this treatment as an efficient way of dealing with the aftermath of workplace bullying.

Workplace Bullying, Emotional Exhaustion, and Partner Social Undermining: A Weekly Diary Study

Workplace bullying is one of the most relevant social stressors at work. Although previous research has shown its negative consequences for health and well-being, scarce evidence about the short-term consequences of workplace bullying and its crossover effects on the home domain is available. Thus, we conducted a multisource weekly diary study. A sample of 124 employees and their spouses filled a general survey (baseline measures) and a weekly online survey for four consecutive weeks (number of occasions = 992). Multilevel analyses showed that workplace bullying is associated with emotional exhaustion (γ = 0.643, SE = 0.215, t = 2.99, p < .05) and behaviors of social undermining toward the partner (γ = 0.751, SE = 0.187, t = 4.01, p < .01). Furthermore, rumination mediated the relationship between workplace bullying and its potential detrimental consequences for both employees' well-being (i.e., emotional exhaustion) and interpersonal connections (i.e., partner social undermining). These results shed some light on the mechanisms that can explain both the short-term effects of workplace bullying on employees' well-being and how such effects go beyond the work setting and can impact the home domain. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.

Exposure to negative acts at work and self-labelling as a victim of workplace bullying: The role of prior victimization from bullying

The present study examines employees’ prior victimization from bullying in school or at work as a predictor of 1) their current exposure to negative social acts at work and 2) the likelihood of labelling as a victim of workplace bullying, and 3) whether the link between exposure to negative acts at work and the perception of being bullied is stronger among those who have been bullied in the past. We tested our hypotheses using a probability sample of the Norwegian working population in a prospective design with a 5-year time lag (N = 1228). As hypothesized, prior victimization positively predicted subsequent exposure to negative acts, which in turn was related to a higher likelihood of developing a perception of being a victim of workplace bullying. However, contrary to our expectations, prior victimization from bullying did not affect the relationship between current exposure to negative acts at work and the likelihood of self-labelling as a victim. Taken together, the results suggest that employees’ prior victimization is a risk factor for future victimization, yet overall plays a rather modest role in understanding current exposure to negative acts and self-labelled victimization from bullying at work.

Bullying, supervisor support, relaxation, and personal and work outcomes: Testing a moderated mediation model

AIM

To test a mediated moderation model in which bullying and supervisor support interact to predict nurses' personal and work outcomes with relaxation during off-job time mediating these effects.

BACKGROUND

Bullying is a pervasive problem in the nursing profession. We integrate and extend past research addressing the question of how bullying and perceived supervisor support affect nurses' functioning.

METHOD

Cross-sectional data were collected from a sample of 290 nurses who completed measures of bullying, perceived supervisor support, relaxation, need for recovery, sleeping problems, job satisfaction, emotional exhaustion and work performance.

RESULTS

Results revealed that bullying was significantly linked to job satisfaction, sleeping problems, need for recovery and emotional exhaustion through relaxation, but only among nurses who perceived high levels of supervisor support.

CONCLUSION

These results revealed that high supervisor support may be detrimental for nurses adding up to a negative cycle of stressors to maladaptive outcomes through lack of relaxation.

IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT

Health care organisations and managers should consider addressing work environment factors, such as bullying, in addition to supervisor support in their efforts to facilitate the positive effects of nurses' relaxation during non-work time.