IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v17y2020i4p1448-d324381.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Workplace Bullying and Suicidal Ideation: Findings from an Australian Longitudinal Cohort Study of Mid-Aged Workers

Author

Listed:
  • Liana S. Leach

    (National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health, Research School of Population Health, The Australia National University, Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia)

  • Lay San Too

    (Centre for Mental Health, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC 3052, Australia)

  • Philip J. Batterham

    (Centre for Mental Health Research, Research School of Population Health, The Australia National University, Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia)

  • Kim M. Kiely

    (School of Psychology, Faculty of Science, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia
    Neuroscience Research Australia (NeuRA), Sydney, NSW 2031, Australia)

  • Helen Christensen

    (Black Dog Institute, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia)

  • Peter Butterworth

    (Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC 3052, Australia
    Centre for Research on Ageing, Health & Wellbeing, Research School of Population Health, The Australia National University, Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia)

Abstract

Workplace bullying adversely affects mental health, yet little is known about the outcomes for suicidal ideation. The current study used Australian population-based data to investigate the association between workplace bullying and suicidal ideation. The sample included 1488 employed participants aged 52–58 from wave 4 of the Personality and Total Health (PATH) Through Life Study. Workplace bullying was measured in two ways: (a) a single item asked about experiences of bullying ‘currently’, ‘previously in the current workplace’ and ‘in a past workplace’, and (b) 15 items asked about bullying behaviours experienced in the past 6 months. Suicidal ideation was measured using items from the Psychiatric Symptom Frequency Scale (PSF) and the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9). Psychosocial job quality, both current and prior, was adjusted for. Current and past experiences of workplace bullying were associated with increased risk of suicidal ideation. Current experiences were no longer associated after adjusting for concurrent indicators of psychosocial job stress, although a tendency for increased ideation remained. Reported prior experience of workplace bullying in a past workplace remained associated with higher odds of suicidal ideation after adjusting for prior psychosocial job stressors and excluding individuals with prior suicidal ideation. Being bullied at work is associated with increased risk of suicidal thoughts, although this occurs within the broader influence of other psychologically stressful employment conditions.

Suggested Citation

  • Liana S. Leach & Lay San Too & Philip J. Batterham & Kim M. Kiely & Helen Christensen & Peter Butterworth, 2020. "Workplace Bullying and Suicidal Ideation: Findings from an Australian Longitudinal Cohort Study of Mid-Aged Workers," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(4), pages 1-12, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:4:p:1448-:d:324381
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/4/1448/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/4/1448/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Broom, Dorothy H. & D'Souza, Rennie M. & Strazdins, Lyndall & Butterworth, Peter & Parslow, Ruth & Rodgers, Bryan, 2006. "The lesser evil: Bad jobs or unemployment? A survey of mid-aged Australians," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 63(3), pages 575-586, August.
    2. Nielsen, M.B. & Nielsen, G.H. & Notelaers, G. & Einarsen, S., 2015. "Workplace bullying and suicidal ideation: A 3-wave longitudinal Norwegian study," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 105(11), pages 23-28.
    3. Bart Verkuil & Serpil Atasayi & Marc L Molendijk, 2015. "Workplace Bullying and Mental Health: A Meta-Analysis on Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Data," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(8), pages 1-16, August.
    4. Isabelle Niedhammer & Jean-François Chastang & Hélène Sultan-Taïeb & Greet Vermeylen & Agnès Parent-Thirion, 2013. "Psychosocial work factors and sickness absence in 31 countries in Europe," Post-Print halshs-01228084, HAL.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Georges Steffgen & Philipp E. Sischka & Martha Fernandez de Henestrosa, 2020. "The Quality of Work Index and the Quality of Employment Index: A Multidimensional Approach of Job Quality and Its Links to Well-Being at Work," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(21), pages 1-31, October.
    2. Bubonya, Melisa & Cobb-Clark, Deborah A. & Wooden, Mark, 2017. "Mental health and productivity at work: Does what you do matter?," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 150-165.
    3. Christina Björklund & Therese Hellman & Irene Jensen & Cecilia Åkerblom & Elisabeth Björk Brämberg, 2019. "Workplace Bullying as Experienced by Managers and How They Cope: A Qualitative Study of Swedish Managers," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(23), pages 1-15, November.
    4. Woorim Kim & Myung Ki & Minjae Choi & Areum Song, 2019. "Comparable Risk of Suicidal Ideation between Workers at Precarious Employment and Unemployment: Data from the Korean Welfare Panel Study, 2012–2017," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(16), pages 1-10, August.
    5. Federica Ghelli & Francesca Malandrone & Valeria Bellisario & Giulia Squillacioti & Marco Panizzolo & Nicoletta Colombi & Luca Ostacoli & Roberto Bono, 2022. "The Quality of Life and the Bio-Molecular Profile in Working Environment: A Systematic Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(13), pages 1-22, July.
    6. Ågotnes, Kari Wik & Skogstad, Anders & Hetland, Jørn & Olsen, Olav Kjellevold & Espevik, Roar & Bakker, Arnold B. & Einarsen, Ståle Valvatne, 2021. "Daily work pressure and exposure to bullying-related negative acts: The role of daily transformational and laissez-faire leadership," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 39(4), pages 423-433.
    7. Jos F. Brosschot & Bart Verkuil & Julian F. Thayer, 2018. "Generalized Unsafety Theory of Stress: Unsafe Environments and Conditions, and the Default Stress Response," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-27, March.
    8. Ilaria Buonomo & Caterina Fiorilli & Luciano Romano & Paula Benevene, 2020. "The Roles of Work-Life Conflict and Gender in the Relationship between Workplace Bullying and Personal Burnout. A Study on Italian School Principals," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(23), pages 1-17, November.
    9. Jerome Popp, 2017. "Social Intelligence and the Explanation of Workplace Abuse," SAGE Open, , vol. 7(2), pages 21582440177, June.
    10. Cokkie Verschuren & Maria Tims & Annet H. De Lange, 2023. "Beyond Bullying, Aggression, Discrimination, and Social Safety: Development of an Integrated Negative Work Behavior Questionnaire (INWBQ)," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(16), pages 1-24, August.
    11. Tonje Fyhn & Simon Øverland & Silje E Reme, 2021. "Predictors of employment in people with moderate to severe mental illness participating in a randomized controlled trial of Individual Placement and Support (IPS)," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 67(2), pages 150-157, March.
    12. Svetlana Lakiša & Linda Matisāne & Inese Gobiņa & Ivars Vanadziņš & Lāsma Akūlova & Maija Eglīte & Linda Paegle, 2021. "Impact of Workplace Conflicts on Self-Reported Medically Certified Sickness Absence in Latvia," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(3), pages 1-15, January.
    13. Richa Gupta & Arti Bakhshi & Ståle Einarsen, 2017. "Investigating Workplace Bullying in India: Psychometric Properties, Validity, and Cutoff Scores of Negative Acts Questionnaire–Revised," SAGE Open, , vol. 7(2), pages 21582440177, June.
    14. Ruth Yeoman, 2014. "Conceptualising Meaningful Work as a Fundamental Human Need," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 125(2), pages 235-251, December.
    15. Amir Karami & Melek Yildiz Spinel & C. Nicole White & Kayla Ford & Suzanne Swan, 2021. "A Systematic Literature Review of Sexual Harassment Studies with Text Mining," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(12), pages 1-24, June.
    16. Cooklin, Amanda R. & Giallo, Rebecca & Strazdins, Lyndall & Martin, Angela & Leach, Liana S. & Nicholson, Jan M., 2015. "What matters for working fathers? Job characteristics, work-family conflict and enrichment, and fathers' postpartum mental health in an Australian cohort," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 214-222.
    17. Fernando R. Feijó & Débora D. Gräf & Neil Pearce & Anaclaudia G. Fassa, 2019. "Risk Factors for Workplace Bullying: A Systematic Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(11), pages 1-25, May.
    18. Nicola Magnavita, 2018. "Medical Surveillance, Continuous Health Promotion and a Participatory Intervention in a Small Company," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-13, April.
    19. Jungwon Jang & Inah Kim & Yangwoo Kim & Jaechul Song, 2022. "Comparison of Work-Related Stress in Cluster of Workers’ Suicides in Korea: Analysis of Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance, 2010–2017," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(5), pages 1-12, March.
    20. Nicole M. Steele & Bryan Rodgers & Gerard J. Fogarty, 2020. "The Relationships of Experiencing Workplace Bullying with Mental Health, Affective Commitment, and Job Satisfaction: Application of the Job Demands Control Model," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(6), pages 1-14, March.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:4:p:1448-:d:324381. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.