Workplace bullying in NHS community trust: staff questionnaire survey

Abstract Objectives: To determine the prevalence of workplace bullying in an NHS community trust; to examine the association between bullying and occupational health outcomes; and to investigate the relation between support at work and bullying. Design: Questionnaire survey. Setting: NHS community trust in the south east of England. Subjects: Trust employees. Main outcome measures: Measures included a 20item inventory of bullying behaviours designed for the study, the job induced stress scale, the hospital anxiety and depression scale, the overall job satisfaction scale, the support at work scale, and the propensity to leave scale. Results: 1100 employees returned questionnaires—a response rate of 70%. 421(38%) employees reported experiencing one or more types of bullying in the previous year. 460(42%) had witnessed the bullying of others. When bullying occurred it was most likely to be by a manager. Two thirds of the victims of bullying had tried to take action when the bullying occurred, but most were dissatisfied with the outcome. Staff who had been bullied had significantly lower levels of job satisfaction (mean 10.5(SD 2.7) v 12.2(2.3), P<0.001) and higher levels of job induced stress (mean 22.5(SD 6.1) v 16.9(5.8), P<0.001), depression (8% (33) v 1% (7), P<0.001), anxiety (30% (125) v 9% (60), P<0.001), and intention to leave the job (8.5(2.9) v 7.0(2.7), P<0.001). Support at work seemed to protect people from some of the damaging effects of bullying. Conclusions: Bullying is a serious problem. Setting up systems for supporting staff and for dealing with interpersonal conflict may have benefits for both employers and staff.

[1]  Robert J. House,et al.  Role conflict and ambiguity as critical variables in a model of organizational behavior , 1972 .

[2]  Robert Quinn,et al.  The 1977 quality of employment survey , 1979 .

[3]  Tom Cox,et al.  Response to stress : occupational aspects , 1979 .

[4]  Sheldon Cohen,et al.  Positive Events and Social Supports as Buffers of Life Change Stress , 1983 .

[5]  D. A. Kenny,et al.  The moderator-mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations. , 1986, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[6]  G. Huston.  The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. , 1987, The Journal of rheumatology.

[7]  Neta C. Crawford,et al.  Bullying At Work: How to Confront and Overcome It , 1992 .

[8]  K. Björkqvist,et al.  Aggression among university employees , 1994 .

[9]  Klaus Niedl.  Mobbing and well-being: Economic and personnel development implications. , 1996 .

[10]  S. Einarsen,et al.  Bullying at work: Epidemiological findings in public and private organizations , 1996 .

[11]  M. Vartia.  The sources of bullying–psychological work environment and organizational climate , 1996 .

[12]  C. Rayner.  The Incidence of Workplace Bullying , 1997 .

[13]  Experience from a Staff Support Service , 1997 .

[14]  P. Randall,et al.  Adult Bullying: Perpetrators and Victims , 1997 .

[15]  H. Hoel,et al.  A summary review of literature relating to workplace bullying , 1997 .

[16]  N. Crawford.  Bullying at work: A psychoanalytic perspective , 1997 .