Why it's important for it to stop: Examining the mental health correlates of bullying and ill-treatment at work in a cohort study

dc.contributor.authorButterworth, Peter
dc.contributor.authorLeach, Liana S
dc.contributor.authorKiely, Kim M
dc.date.accessioned2018-02-06T00:09:28Z
dc.date.available2018-02-06T00:09:28Z
dc.date.issued2016-11
dc.description.abstractOBJECTIVE There is limited Australian information on the prevalence and mental health consequences of bullying and ill-treatment at work. The aims of this study were to use data from an ongoing Australian longitudinal cohort study to (1) compare different measures of workplace bullying, (2) estimate the prevalence of bullying and ill-treatment at work, (3) evaluate whether workplace bullying is distinct from other adverse work characteristics and (4) examine the unique contribution of workplace bullying to common mental disorders in mid-life. METHOD The sample comprised 1466 participants (52% women) aged 52-58 from wave four of the Personality and Total Health (PATH) through Life study. Workplace bullying was assessed by a single item of self-labelling measure of bullying and a 15-item scale of bullying-related behaviours experienced in the past 6 months. Factor analysis the identified underlying factor structure of the behavioural bullying scale. RESULTS Current bullying was reported by 7.0% of respondents, while 46.4% of respondents reported that they had been bullied at some point in their working life. Person-related and work-related bullying behaviours were more common than violence and intimidation. The multi-dimensional scale of bullying behaviours had greater concordance with a single item of self-labelled bullying (Area Under the Curve = 0.88) than other adverse work characteristics (all Area Under the Curves < 0.67). Self-labelled bullying and scales reflecting person-related and work-related bullying were independent predictors of depression and/or anxiety. CONCLUSION This study provides unique information on the prevalence and mental health impacts of workplace bullying and ill-treatment in Australia. Workplace bullying is a relatively common experience, and is associated with increased risk of depression and anxiety. Greater attention to identifying and preventing bullying and ill-treatment in the workplace is warranted.en_AU
dc.description.sponsorshipThis work was supported by National Health and Medical Research Council project grant #1002160, funding from Safe Work Australia, Australian Research Council (ARC) Future Fellowship #FT13101444, National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Early Career Fellowship #1035803, and Alzheimer’s Australia Dementia Research Foundation (AADRF) Fellowship #DGP13F00005.en_AU
dc.format11 pagesen_AU
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdfen_AU
dc.identifier.issn0004-8674en_AU
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/1885/140382
dc.publisherSAGE Publicationsen_AU
dc.relationhttp://purl.org/au-research/grants/nhmrc/1002160en_AU
dc.relationhttp://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/FT13101444en_AU
dc.relationhttp://purl.org/au-research/grants/nhmrc/1035803en_AU
dc.rights© The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists 2015 http://www.sherpa.ac.uk/romeo/issn/0004-8674/Author can archive post-print (ie final draft post-refereeing). Author's post-print on author's personal website, departmental website, institutional website or institutional repository (Sherpa/Romeo 6/2/2018)en_AU
dc.sourceThe Australian and New Zealand journal of psychiatryen_AU
dc.subjectworkplace bullyingen_AU
dc.subjectanxietyen_AU
dc.subjectdepressionen_AU
dc.subjectharassmenten_AU
dc.subjectmental healthen_AU
dc.subjectanxietyen_AU
dc.subjectAustraliaen_AU
dc.subjectbullyingen_AU
dc.subjectdepressionen_AU
dc.subjectfemaleen_AU
dc.subjecthumansen_AU
dc.subjectlongitudinal studiesen_AU
dc.subjectmaleen_AU
dc.subjectmiddle ageden_AU
dc.subjectworkplaceen_AU
dc.titleWhy it's important for it to stop: Examining the mental health correlates of bullying and ill-treatment at work in a cohort studyen_AU
dc.typeJournal articleen_AU
dcterms.accessRightsOpen Accessen_AU
local.bibliographicCitation.issue11en_AU
local.bibliographicCitation.lastpage1095en_AU
local.bibliographicCitation.startpage1085en_AU
local.contributor.affiliationButterworth, Peter, Centre for Research on Ageing, Health & Wellbeing, Research School of Population Health, The Australian National Universityen_AU
local.contributor.affiliationLeach, Liana S., Centre for Research on Ageing, Health & Wellbeing, Research School of Population Health, The Australian National Universityen_AU
local.contributor.affiliationKiely, Kim M., Centre for Research on Ageing, Health & Wellbeing, Research School of Population Health, The Australian National Universityen_AU
local.contributor.authoremailpeter.butterworth@anu.edu.auen_AU
local.contributor.authoremailLiana.Leach@anu.edu.auen_AU
local.contributor.authoremailkim.kiely@anu.edu.auen_AU
local.contributor.authoruidu4047421en_AU
local.identifier.citationvolume50en_AU
local.identifier.doi10.1177/0004867415622267en_AU
local.identifier.essn1440-1614en_AU
local.identifier.uidSubmittedByu4049514en_AU
local.publisher.urlhttps://au.sagepub.com/en-gb/oce/change-location/0en_AU
local.type.statusAccepted Versionen_AU

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