title: Distress and job satisfaction after robbery assaults: a longitudinal study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  External/intrusive violence at work can result in psychological distress and can be an important risk to employee health and safety. However, the vast majority of workplace violence studies have employed cross-sectional and correlational research, designed to examine immediate reactions after being assaulted at work.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To explore whether exposure to robbery as a traumatic event may contribute to the onset of typical symptoms of psychological distress (anxiety depression, dysphoria and loss of confidence) and job dissatisfaction over time.
  
  
  METHODS
  We collected data by using a two-wave panel design, in which employees working the days of bank robberies, in an Italian bank, filled in a questionnaire between 48h and 1 week after the robbery (T1) and 2 months after the robbery (T2). We performed structural equation models to evaluate the fit of different models to our data.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were 513 participants at T1 (58% women) and 175 (34%) participants at T2 (62% women). There was a simultaneous association in which psychological distress leads to job dissatisfaction both following robbery and 2 months later.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our findings support a synchronous effects model and suggest that interventions after suffering physical assaults, apart from helping employees to recover their health, should consider restoring their trust and confidence in the organization. This study contributes to understanding the dynamic relationships between a robbery at work and its outcomes over time, by addressing several methodological deficiencies in previous longitudinal studies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, European University of Rome,Via degli Aldobrandeschi 190, 00163 Roma, Italy, gabriele.giorgi@unier.it.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Giorgi
authors.affiliation: Business Research Unit, Instituto Universitário de Lisboa (ISCTE-IUL), 1649-026 Lisbon, Portugal.
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Leon Perez
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, Quebec, J1K 2R1, Canada.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Montani
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, Quebec, J1K 2R1, Canada.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Courcy
authors.affiliation: Department of Occupational Medicine, University of Florence, 50134 Florence, Italy.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Arcangeli
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007588:Job Satisfaction; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D016273:Occupational Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000150:complications / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000150:complications* / Q000401:mortality; D013800:Theft / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data
keywords: Stress; stress management; well-being; work; workplace hazard.