Perceived workplace incivility and psychological well-being in higher education teachers: a multigroup analysis

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of perceived workplace incivility (WPI) on psychological well-being (PWB) in teachers of higher education and to test for the moderating role of gender and organizational tenure on the relationship between perceived WPI and PWB.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were collected from teachers (N = 341) employed in government and private colleges through convenience sampling. A structural equation modeling technique was used for model testing.

Findings

Results showed a moderate level of perceived WPI by teachers from their colleagues or supervisors. Perceived WPI had a negative impact on PWB. Sixteen percent of the variance in PWB was explained by perceived WPI. Further, the multigroup analysis showed gender to moderate the relationship between perceived WPI and PWB, and this relationship was stronger for males than females. Organizational tenure was not a significant moderator.

Research limitations/implications

These findings expand the literature on perceived WPI and suggest that stringent policies are essential in academia to minimize the incidence of WPI. Additionally, interventions are to be introduced to mitigate the negative outcomes of WPI both at the individual and organizational levels.

Originality/value

The study explores the role of demographic variables (gender and organizational tenure) in the relationship between perceived WPI and PWB in teachers. The empirical evidence suggests higher perceived WPI in male teachers leading to lower PWB. The organizational tenure of an employee shows no influence on the assessment of the stressor.

Civilian Military Security Coordinators Coping with Frequent Traumatic Events: Spirituality, Community Resilience, and Emotional Distress

Civilian military security coordinators are a unique kind of first responders. They live in communities that are close to the border and are responsible for the security of their community in routine and emergency situations until the arrival of the army or the police. Their role puts them at an elevated risk of experiencing emotional distress and developing PTSD. The present study, which was conducted in Israel following terror incidents over the year 2018, aimed to examine the relationships between spirituality and perceived community resilience, on the one hand, and PTSD symptoms and stress, on the other, among civilian military security coordinators. One hundred and thirteen (n = 113) civilian military security coordinators living up to 12.4 miles from the border who are routinely exposed to terror and other traumatic events completed demographic, spirituality, community resilience, PTSD, and stress questionnaires. Structural-equation-model analyses showed that spirituality was negatively associated with PTSD symptoms and stress. However, perceived community resilience was not associated with PTSD symptoms or stress. In addition, age was negatively associated with PTSD symptoms and stress. Financial situation was also negatively associated with PTSD symptoms and stress and incidence of exposure to terror and security threats was associated only with PTSD symptoms. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms, Burn-Out, and Compassion Satisfaction Among Body Handlers: The Mediating Role of Sense of Coherence and Spirituality at Workplace

This study assessed posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS), burn-out (BO), and compassion satisfaction (CS) among Israeli body handlers. We aimed to explore differences between two groups of Orthodox Jewish male volunteers: the "ZAKA" body handlers (ZAs: n = 102), and a comparison group of charity workers (CWs: n = 101). Furthermore, we assessed the contribution of two potential resilience buffers-sense of coherence (SOC) and spirituality at the workplace (SAW)-to PTSS, BO, and CS among these volunteers via self-report measures. Surprisingly, results show that ZAs reported significantly lower levels of PTSS and BO as compared with CWs. ZAs also reported significantly higher levels of CS as compared with CWs. Importantly, SOC mediated the link between groups and PTSS and BO. Both SOC and SAW mediated the link between groups and CS. These findings suggest that "ZAKA" body handlers demonstrate substantial resilience following repeated exposure to death and atrocities. To reduce work-related psychological distress and improve CS, SOC and SAW should be taken into account in the process of recruitment and training of body handlers.

Investigating the Impact of Past Trauma and Defense Styles on Posttraumatic Stress Following Homicide and Psychiatric Co-morbidity

To examine the prevalence of PTSD following homicide and investigate the relationship between PTSD from past traumas, defense styles and PTSD following homicide and psychiatric co-morbidity. 167 male homicide perpetrators participated in the study and completed the Posttraumatic Stress Diagnostic Scale, the General Health Questionnaire-28 and the Defense Styles Questionnaire. 45% met the criteria for PTSD following homicide and 55% for no-PTSD. With the number of times for imprisonment adjusted, regression analyses showed that immature defense style was associated with PTSD following homicide with the severity of PTSD from past traumas as a moderator. Neurotic and immature defense styles and PTSD from past trauma were significantly and independently associated with psychiatric co-morbidity. Homicide perpetrators could develop PTSD following homicide. The severity of PTSD from past traumas could affect PTSD following homicide and other psychological problems, and influence the effect of using immature defense against PTSD from homicide. Past trauma, immature and neurotic defense styles had a unique and specific pattern of influence on psychological symptoms, other than trauma symptoms.

Early psychological impact of Paris terrorist attacks on healthcare emergency staff: A cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND

The terrorist attacks in Paris and Saint Denis on November 13, 2015 were an unprecedented traumatic event in France. It was an especially distressing ordeal for the healthcare personnel involved in the care of the victims. The aim of this study was to estimate the effect of direct participation in the rescue on posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms among these workers.

METHODS

Less than a month later, 613 healthcare providers (professionals and paraprofessionals) from three hospitals in the Paris suburbs were asked to complete an anonymous questionnaire. A multivariable Poisson model estimated the effect of participating onsite in the rescue (exposure variable) on the number of PTSD symptoms measured by the Trauma Screening Questionnaire (TSQ; outcome variable), adjusted for covariates.

RESULTS

Two hundred thirty-three providers completed the assessment (38% response rate), 130 participated directly in the rescue (56%). Participation was associated with a higher number of symptoms of PTSD (RR = 1.34, P = .002) than for nonparticipants. Female gender (RR = 1.39, P < .001) and basic (vs. advanced or intermediate) life-saving training (RR = 1.42, P = .004) were also associated with more PTSD symptoms. Participants in the rescue were at 2.76 times more risk of a probable PTSD diagnosis (OR = 2.76, P = .037), defined as reporting at least six PTSD symptoms. Sensitivity analyses using propensity score matching supported the robustness of our findings.

CONCLUSIONS

Healthcare providers directly involved in the rescue of the victims of the Paris and Saint Denis attacks reported a significantly higher psychological impact, defined by PTSD symptoms, than those not directly involved.

Coping with Work-related Traumatic Situations among Crime Scene Technicians

Crime scene technicians collect evidence related to crime and are therefore exposed to many traumatic situations. The coping strategies they use are thus very important in the process of facing the psychological consequences of such work. The available literature shows that crime scene technicians are an understudied subgroup of police workers. Our study is therefore the first unfolding insights into technicians' coping strategies, post-traumatic symptomatology and somatic health, based on a sample of 64 male crime scene technicians (85% of all Slovene technicians). Crime scene technicians mainly use avoidance coping strategies. Approach strategies that are more effective in the long-term-i.e. lead to a larger buffering of the effects of traumatic stress-are more frequently used if technicians are familiar with the nature of the task, when they have time to prepare for it, and if they feel that past situations have been positively resolved. Behavioural avoidance strategies were found to be least effective when dealing with traumatic experiences and are also related to more frequent problems of physical health. Results indicate that appropriate trainings for future technicians would facilitate the use of more effective coping strategies and consequently lead to a more effective and satisfied worker. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Alexithymia and posttraumatic stress disorder following epileptic seizure

This study investigated (1) the incidence of posttraumatic stress disorder following epileptic seizure (post-epileptic seizure PTSD) and psychiatric co-morbidity and (2) the extent to which alexithymia traits related to the severity of the preceding outcomes. Seventy-one people with epilepsy participated in the study and completed the Posttraumatic Stress Diagnostic Scale, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), and Toronto Alexithymia Scale. The control group comprised 71 people without epilepsy who completed the HADS. Fifty-one percent met the diagnostic criteria for full-PTSD; 30 % for partial-PTSD and 19 % for no-PTSD. The epilepsy group reported significantly more anxiety and depression than the control with demographic variables controlled for. Difficulty identifying feelings predicted post-epileptic seizure PTSD, anxiety and depression. It was positively correlated with post-epileptic seizure PTSD and depression, while it was negatively correlated with anxiety. People can develop PTSD and psychiatric co-morbid symptoms following epileptic seizures. The severity of these symptoms was related to difficulty in identifying internal feelings and emotions.

Chronic idiopathic urticaria, psychological co-morbidity and posttraumatic stress: the impact of alexithymia and repression

The objective of this study was to investigate the interrelationship between chronic idiopathic urticaria (CIU), psychological co-morbidity, posttraumatic stress, repression and alexithymia. 89 participants with CIU and 105 without CIU responded to an online questionnaire. Both groups completed the general health questionnaire-12, the perceived stress scale, the posttraumatic stress diagnostic scale and the Toronto alexithymia scale-20 and were categorised into four defence mechanism groups (repressive, defensive, high-anxious, low-anxious). CIU participants also completed the Skindex-17 and a self-report severity measure. CIU participants reported higher levels of alexithymia than the control group and their defence mechanism was most likely to be categorised as defensive, with conscious self-image management reported alongside high manifest anxiety. Partial least squares analysis revealed significant paths between posttraumatic stress and CIU severity and psychological co-morbidity. Posttraumatic stress was associated with alexithymia and type of defence mechanism. Only being in the high-anxious group partially mediated the relationship between posttraumatic stress and CIU severity. In conclusion, there is evidence for a relationship between CIU and trauma. The severity of posttraumatic symptoms varies depending upon alexithymic traits and defence mechanisms used. Disease severity and psychological co-morbidity are differentially influenced by the relationships between trauma, alexithymic traits and defence mechanisms.

The impact of repression, hostility, and post-traumatic stress disorder on all-cause mortality: a prospective 16-year follow-up study

A common assumption is that repression of traumatic memories is harmful to health. To assess this, we examined all-cause mortality among a national random sample of 4462 male US Army veterans evaluated in 1985 and followed up in 2000. Our hypothesis was that repression on the Welsh R scale would be associated with increased future mortality. We also expected to find a repression x post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) interaction effect. Multivariate Cox regression results for all veterans and for theater veterans (Vietnam service) and era veterans (no Vietnam service) separately, revealed that while PTSD was significant in all models, no main or interaction effect was found for repression. In addition, for era veterans, higher repression symptoms were protective for future mortality (HR = 0.95, p = 0.03). For hostility symptoms, although no interaction effect was found by PTSD, a positive main effect was detected for hostility, but only for theater veterans (HR = 1.04, p = 0.034). Disease-specific results were nonsignificant. Similar to a recent study, we also found that repression symptoms were negatively correlated with PTSD symptoms (r = -0.109, p < 0.001), suggesting repression might be protective. Our study found no evidence that repression had an adverse health impact on men exposed to psychological trauma.

Resilience revisited

Contemporary reports of individuals experiencing severe adversity have led to renewed debate regarding the processes that mediate a person's ability to withstand extremes of both psychological and physical abuse. The capacity to recover from extremes of trauma and stress is termed resilience. This important concept is of key relevance to health professionals as resilience and also defines a more general concept of responding to challenges that affect the individual in terms of their health behaviour. The evidence base in this area is noteworthy in that much research is based on historical case studies that, although rich in both content and appeal, also fall short of contemporary rigour in terms of validity. This review will describe the evidence for the salience of the concept of the resilience to health and mental health and the implications of the domain to the healthcare professional.

Does one size fit all? The challenges of establishing a coordinating center for research of post-disaster needs assessment

Needs assessment in the wake of disasters is most significant yet highly complex and challenging. Kessler et al. propose a comprehensive disaster mental health research model. This model has several significant advantages: (1) Pre-prepared plans and resources allow rapid deployment of skilled professionals; (2) Continuity will ensure that lessons learned from one disaster will be retained and used in subsequent disasters; (3) Standardization will provide a solid basis for evaluation and comparison across events; (4) Continuous monitoring of needs over time will enable the capture of a full range of responses including delayed effects; and (5) Will provide a valuable resource for researchers in the field. At the same time, there are a number of challenges that must be considered before the establishment and implementation of the proposed center and use of standardized measures. These challenges are associated with the observation that different disasters give rise to different problems and needs; there is considerable cultural variability; and differential power and agenda of stakeholders may result in a limiting 'tunnel vision' approach that may undermine new developments, creativity, and progress. Ways to overcome these challenges and difficulties that are involved in the implementation of such a model are suggested.