Assessment of Turkish junior male physicians' exposure to mobbing behavior.
OBJECTIVE
To determine the extent of Turkish junior male physicians' exposure to mobbing behavior and its correlation with physicians' characteristics.


METHODS
The study included physicians recruited for compulsory military service in April 2009. No sampling method was used, questionnaires were delivered to all physicians, and 278 of 292 (95%) questionnaires were returned. We used Leymann Inventory of Psychological Terror including 45 items for data collection and structural equation model for data analysis.


RESULTS
A total of 87.7% of physicians experienced mobbing behavior. Physicians who worked more than 40 hours a week, single physicians, physicians working in university hospitals and private hospitals, and physicians who did not have occupational commitment were more exposed to mobbing (P<0.05). Mobbing was not associated with specialty status, service period, age, and personality variables (P>0.05). All goodness-of- fit indices of the model were acceptable (χ(2)=1.449, normed fit index=0.955, Tucker Lewis index=0.980, comparative fit index=0.985, and root mean square error of approximation=0.040).


CONCLUSIONS
Workplace mobbing is a critical problem for junior male physicians in Turkey. We suggest an introduction of a reporting system and education activities for physicians in high-risk groups.
Hacettepe University, Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Department of Healthcare Management, Beytepe Campus, 06100 Ankara, Turkey. baysahin@hacettepe.edu.tr
Bayram
B
Sahin
Mehmet
M
Cetin
Mesut
M
Cimen
Nuri
N
Yildiran
D000328:Adult; D000374:Aggression; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008399:Mass Behavior; D010820:Physicians / Q000523:psychology*; D012059:Rejection, Psychology; D012934:Social Isolation / Q000523:psychology; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014421:Turkey; D017132:Workplace / Q000523:psychology*