Journal of Psychosomatic Research
Volume 60, Issue 1 , Pages 63-72 , January 2006

Bullying at work, health outcomes, and physiological stress response

  • Åse Marie Hansen

      Affiliations

    • National Institute of Occupational Health, DK-2100 Copenhagen Ø, Denmark
    • Corresponding Author InformationCorresponding author. National Institute of Occupational Health, Lersø Parkallé 105, DK-2100 Copenhagen Ø, Denmark. Tel.: +45 39 16 52 00; fax: +45 39 16 52 01
  • ,
  • Annie Hogh

      Affiliations

    • National Institute of Occupational Health, DK-2100 Copenhagen Ø, Denmark
  • ,
  • Roger Persson

      Affiliations

    • Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Lund University Hospital, Sweden
  • ,
  • Björn Karlson

      Affiliations

    • Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Lund University Hospital, Sweden
  • ,
  • Anne Helene Garde

      Affiliations

    • National Institute of Occupational Health, DK-2100 Copenhagen Ø, Denmark
  • ,
  • Palle Ørbæk

      Affiliations

    • National Institute of Occupational Health, DK-2100 Copenhagen Ø, Denmark
    • Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Lund University Hospital, Sweden

Received 14 September 2004 ,Revised 4 April 2005 ,Accepted 28 June 2005.

References 

  1. Einarsen S. Harassment and bullying at work: a review of the Scandinavian approach. Aggress Violent Behav. 2000;5(4):379–401
  2. Salin D. Ways of explaining workplace bullying: a review of enabling, motivating and precipitating structures and processes in the work environment. Hum Relat. 2003;56(10):1213–1232
  3. Zapf D, Einarsen S, Hoel H, Vartia M. Empirical findings on bullying in the workplace. In:  Einarsen S,  Hoel H,  Zapf D,  Cooper CL editor. Bullying and emotional abuse in the workplace. International perspectives in research and practice. London: Taylor and Francis; 2003;p. 103–126
  4. Einarsen S, Mikkelsen EG. Mobning i arbejdslivet: hvad er det og hvad ved vi om det? (Bullying at work: what is it and what do we know about it?), Tidsskr Arbliv. 2000;2(1):7–24
  5. Neuman JH, Baron RA. Aggression in the workplace. In:  Giacalone RA,  Greenberg J editor. Antisocial behavior in organizations. London: Sage Publications; 1997;p. 37–67
  6. Zapf D, Einarsen S. Bullying in the workplace: recent trends in research and practice—an introduction. Eur J Work Organ Psychol. 2001;10(4):369–373
  7. Einarsen S, Raknes BI, Matthiesen SB. Bullying and harassment at work and their relationship to work environment quality—an exploratory study. Eur Work Organ Psychol. 1994;4(4):381–401
  8. Leymann H. The content and development of mobbing at work. Eur J Work Organ Psychol. 1996;5(2):165–184
  9. Einarsen S. Bullying and harassment at work: epidemiological and psychosocial aspects. University of Bergen: Department of Psychosocial Science, Faculty of Psychology; 1996;
  10. Leymann H. Från mobbning till utslagning i arbetslivet (From bullying to exclusion at work), Stockholm: Publica; 1992;
  11. Zapf D, Knorz C, Kulla M. On the relationship between mobbing factors, and job content, social work environment, and health outcomes. Eur J Work Organ Psychol. 1996;5(2):215–237
  12. Lee RT, Ashforth BE. A meta-analytic examination of the correlates of the three dimensions of job burnout. J Appl Psychol. 1996;8144(2):123–133
  13. Lakey B, Tardiff KA, Drew JB. Negative social interactions: social support, cognition, and psychological distress. J Soc Clin Psychol. 1994;13(1):42–62
  14. Keashly L, Jagatic K. By another name: American perspectives on workplace bullying. In:  Einarsen S,  Hoel H,  Zapf D,  Cooper CL editor. Bullying and emotional abuse in the workplace. International perspectives in research and practice. London: Taylor & Francis; 2003;p. 31–61
  15. Quine L. Workplace bullying in NHS community trust: staff questionnaire survey. BMJ. 1999;318:228–232
  16. Folkman S, Lazarus RS. Coping and emotion. In:  Monat A,  Lazarus RS editor. Stress and coping. An anthology. New York: Columbia Univ. Press; 1991;p. 207–227
  17. Cohen S, Edwards JR. Personality characteristics as moderators of the relationship between stress and disorder. In:  Neufeld RWJ editors. Advances in the investigation of psychological stress. New York: Wiley; 1989;p. 235–283
  18. Cox T, Ferguson E. Individual differences, stress and coping. In:  Cooper CL,  Payne RL editor. Personality and stress: individual differences in the stress process. Chichester: Wiley; 1991;p. 7–30
  19. Spector PE, Zapf D, Chen PY, Frese M. Why negative affectivity should not be controlled in job stress research: don't throw the baby out with the bath water. J Organ Behav. 2000;21:79–95
  20. George JM. Trait and state affect. In:  Murphy KR editors. Individual differences and behavior in organizations. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass; 1995;p. 145–171
  21. Spielberger CD, Gort SM, Lushington K, Vagg PR, Jacobs GA. Manual for the State Trait Anxiety Inventory (Form Y1–Y2). Palo Alto (Calif): Consulting Psychology Press; 1983;
  22. Watson D, Pennebaker JW. Health complaints, stress, and distress: exploring the central role of negative affectivity. Psychol Rev. 1989;96(2):234–254
  23. Mikkelsen EG, Einarsen S. Relationship between exposure to bullying at work and psychological and psychosomatic health complaints: the role of state negative affectivity and generalized self-efficacy. Scand J Psychol. 2002;43:397–405
  24. Einarsen S, Mikkelsen EG. Individual effects of exposure to bullying at work. In:  Einarsen S,  Hoel H,  Zapf D,  Cooper CL editor. Bullying and emotional abuse in the workplace. International perspectives in research and practice. London: Taylor and Francis; 2003;p. 127–144
  25. Dofradottir A, Høgh A. Mobning på arbejdspladsen. En kritisk gennemgang af dansk og international forskningslitteratur (Bullying at work. A critical review of Danish and international research), In: AMI Dok. vol. 10:Arbejdsmiljøinstituttet: København; 2002;p. 3–71
  26. Einarsen S, Matthiesen SB, Mikkelsen EG. In: Tiden leger alle sår? Senvirkninger av mobbing i arbetslivetBergen: Institutt for Samfunnspsykologi—Universitetet i Bergen; 1999;p. 3–46
  27. Leymann H, Gustafsson A. Mobbing at work and the development of post-traumatic stress disorder. Eur J Work Organ Psychol. 1996;5(2):251–275
  28. Mikkelsen EG, Einarsen S. Basic assumptions and symptoms of post-traumatic stress among victims of bullying at work. Eur J Work Organ Psychol. 2002;11(1):87–111
  29. Vartia M-L. Consequences of workplace bullying with respect to the well-being of its targets and the observers of bullying. Scand J Work Environ Health. 2001;27(1):63–69
  30. Kivimäki M, Elovainio M, Vahtera J. Workplace bullying and sickness absence in Hospital staff. Occup Environ Med. 2000;57(10):656–660
  31. Rayner C. From research to implementation: finding leverage for prevention. Int J Man. 1999;20(1/2):28–38
  32. Ockenfels MC, Porter L, Smyth J, Kirschbaum C, Hellhammer DH, Stone AA. Effect of chronic stress associated with unemployment on salivary cortisol: overall cortisol levels, diurnal rhythm, and acute stress reactivity. Psychosom Med. 1995;57(5):460–467
  33. Yang Y, Koh D, Ng V, Lee FCY, Chan G, Dong F, et al. Salivary cortisol levels and work-related stress among emergency department nurses. J Occup Environ Med. 2002;43(2001):1011–1018
  34. Evans O, Steptoe A. Social support at work, heart rate, and cortisol: a self-monitoring study. J Occup Health Psychol. 2001;6(4):361–370
  35. Hjortskov N, Garde AH, Ørbæk P, Hansen ÅM. Evaluation of salivary cortisol as a biomarker of self-reported mental stress in field studies. Stress Health. 2004;20:91–98
  36. Yehuda R, Kahana B, Binder-Brynes K, Southwick SM, Mason JW, Giller EL. Low urinary cortisol excretion in Holocaust survivors with posttraumatic stress disorder. Am J Psychiatry. 1995;152(7):982–986
  37. Kudielka BM, Kern S. Cortisol day profiles in victims of mobbing (bullying at the work place): preliminary results of a first psychobiological field study. J Psychosom Res. 2004;56(1):149–150
  38. Dallner M, Lindström K, Elo A-L, Skogstad A, Gamberale F, Hottinen V, et al. In: Användarmanual för QPSNordic. 19:Stockholm: Nordisk Ministerråd/Arbetslivsinstitutet; 2000;p. 1–24
  39. Derogatis LR. SCL-90-R. Administration, scoring and procedures. Manual-II. Towson (Md): Clinical Psychometric Research; 1992;
  40. Goldberg D. The General Health Questionnaire. In:  McDowell I,  Newell C editor. Measuring health. A guide to rating scales and questionnaires. New York: Oxford Univ. Press; 1996;p. 225–237
  41. Karasek R, Brisson C, Kawakami N, Houtman I, Bongers P, Amick B. The Job Content Questionnaire (JCQ): an instrument for internationally comparative assessments of psychosocial job characteristics. J Occup Health Psychol. 1998;3(4):322–355
  42. Spielberger CD, Vagg PR. Psychometric properties of the STAI: a reply to Ramanaiah, Franzen, and Schill. J Pers Assess. 1984;48(1):95–97
  43. Hansen ÅM, Garde AH, Christensen JM, Eller N, Netterstrøm B. Validation of a radio-immunoassay and establishment of a reference interval for salivary cortisol in healthy subjects in Denmark. Scand J Clin Lab Invest. 2003;63:303–310
  44. Westgard JO, Barry PL, Hunt MR, Groth T. A multi-rule Shewhart chart for quality control in clinical chemistry. Clin Chem. 1981;27(3):493–501
  45. Garde AH, Hansen ÅM, Nikolajsen TB. An inter-laboratory comparison for determination of cortisol in saliva. Accredit Qual Assur. 2003;8(1):20
  46. Westgard JO, Barry PL. Improving quality control by the use of multi-rule control procedures. Cost-effective quality control: managing the quality and productivity of analytical processes. Washington: American Association for Clinical Chemistry (AACC Press); 1997;
  47. Baron RM, Kenny DA. The moderator–mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations. J Pers Soc Psychol. 1986;51(6):1173–1182
  48. Agervold M, Mikkelsen EG. Relationships between bullying, psychosocial work environment and individual stress reactions. Work Stress. 2004;18(4):336–351
  49. Cole LL, Grubb PL, Sauter SL, Swanson NG, Lawless P. Psychosocial correlates of harassment, threats and fear of violence in the workplace. Scand J Work Environ Health. 1997;23(6):450–457
  50. Lee RT, Ashforth B. A meta-analytic examination of the correlates of the three dimensions of job burnout. J Appl Psychol. 1996;81:123–133
  51. Ursin H, Eriksen HR. The cognitive activation theory of stress. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2004;29:567–592
  52. Yehuda R, Teicher MH, Trestman RL, Levengood RA, Siever LJ. Cortisol regulation in posttraumatic stress disorder and major depression: a chronobiological analysis. Biol Psychiatry. 1996;40:79–88
  53. Heim C, Ehlert U, Hellhammer DH. The potential role of hypocortisolism in the pathophysiology of stress-related bodily disorders. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2000;25(1):1–35
  54. Strickland P, Morriss R, Wearden A, Deakin B. A comparison of salivary cortisol in chronic fatigue syndrome, community depression and healthy controls. J Affect Disord. 1998;47(1–3):191–194
  55. Horowitz M. Stress response syndromes. 2nd ed. Northvale (NJ): Jason Aronson; 1992;
  56. Janoff-Bulman R. Assumptive worlds and the stress of traumatic events: application of the schema construct. Social Cogn. 1989;7(2):113–136
  57. Janoff-Bulman R, Frieze IH. A theoretical perspective for understanding reactions to victimization. J Soc Issues. 1983;39(2):1–17
  58. Janoff-Bulman R. Shattered assumptions. Towards a new psychology of trauma. New York: The Free Press; 1992;
  59. Magwaza AS. Assumptive world of traumatized South African adults. J Soc Psychol. 1999;139(5):622–630
  60. Kristensen TS. Job stress and cardiovascular disease: a theoretic critical review. J Occup Health Psychol. 1996;1(3):246–260
  61. Siemiatycki J, Campbell S, Richardson L, Aubert D. Quality of response in different population groups in mail and telephone surveys. Am J Epidemiol. 1984;120(2):302–314
  62. van der Zouwen J, de Leeuw ED. The relationship between mode of administration and quality of data in survey research. Bull Méthodol Sociol. 1991;31:49–60

PII: S0022-3999(05)00216-3

doi: 10.1016/j.jpsychores.2005.06.078

Journal of Psychosomatic Research
Volume 60, Issue 1 , Pages 63-72 , January 2006