Workplace Bullying and Mental Health: A Meta-Analysis on Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Data

A growing body of research has confirmed that workplace bullying is a source of distress and poor mental health. Here we summarize the cross-sectional and longitudinal literature on these associations. Systematic review and meta-analyses on the relation between workplace bullying and mental health....

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:PloS one 2015-08, Vol.10 (8), p.e0135225-e0135225
Main Authors: Verkuil, Bart, Atasayi, Serpil, Molendijk, Marc L
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Analysis
Anxiety
Bullying
Child abuse & neglect
Cognition & reasoning
Complaints
Cross-Sectional Studies
Demography
Emotional disorders
Female
Handbooks
Health problems
Humans
Job satisfaction
Longitudinal Studies
Male
Medical ethics
Mental depression
Mental disorders
Mental Health
Meta-analysis
Middle Aged
Mood disorders
Occupational exposure
Occupational health
Population
Post traumatic stress disorder
Psychiatry
Psychological distress
Psychology
Publication Bias
Reviews
Risk factors
Stress
Stress (Psychology)
Studies
Systematic review
Victimization
Workplace - psychology
Workplaces
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Summary:A growing body of research has confirmed that workplace bullying is a source of distress and poor mental health. Here we summarize the cross-sectional and longitudinal literature on these associations. Systematic review and meta-analyses on the relation between workplace bullying and mental health. The cross-sectional data (65 effect sizes, N = 115.783) showed positive associations between workplace bullying and symptoms of depression (r = .28, 95% CI = .23-.34), anxiety (r = .34, 95% CI = .29-.40) and stress-related psychological complaints (r = .37, 95% CI = .30-.44). Pooling the literature that investigated longitudinal relationships (26 effect sizes, N = 54.450) showed that workplace bullying was related to mental health complaints over time (r = 0.21, 95% CI = 0.13-0.21). Interestingly, baseline mental health problems were associated with subsequent exposure to workplace bullying (r = 0.18, 95% CI = 0.10-0.27; 11 effect sizes, N = 27.028). All data were self-reported, raising the possibility of reporting- and response set bias. Workplace bullying is consistently, and in a bi-directional manner, associated with reduced mental health. This may call for intervention strategies against bullying at work.
ISSN:1932-6203
1932-6203
DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0135225