title: Why it's important for it to stop: Examining the mental health correlates of bullying and ill-treatment at work in a cohort study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  There is limited Australian information on the prevalence and mental health consequences of bullying and ill-treatment at work. The aims of this study were to use data from an ongoing Australian longitudinal cohort study to (1) compare different measures of workplace bullying, (2) estimate the prevalence of bullying and ill-treatment at work, (3) evaluate whether workplace bullying is distinct from other adverse work characteristics and (4) examine the unique contribution of workplace bullying to common mental disorders in mid-life.
  
  
  METHODS
  The sample comprised 1466 participants (52% women) aged 52-58 from wave four of the Personality and Total Health (PATH) through Life study. Workplace bullying was assessed by a single item of self-labelling measure of bullying and a 15-item scale of bullying-related behaviours experienced in the past 6 months. Factor analysis the identified underlying factor structure of the behavioural bullying scale.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Current bullying was reported by 7.0% of respondents, while 46.4% of respondents reported that they had been bullied at some point in their working life. Person-related and work-related bullying behaviours were more common than violence and intimidation. The multi-dimensional scale of bullying behaviours had greater concordance with a single item of self-labelled bullying (Area Under the Curve = 0.88) than other adverse work characteristics (all Area Under the Curves < 0.67). Self-labelled bullying and scales reflecting person-related and work-related bullying were independent predictors of depression and/or anxiety.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study provides unique information on the prevalence and mental health impacts of workplace bullying and ill-treatment in Australia. Workplace bullying is a relatively common experience, and is associated with increased risk of depression and anxiety. Greater attention to identifying and preventing bullying and ill-treatment in the workplace is warranted.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Research on Ageing, Health & Wellbeing, Research School of Population Health, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia Peter.Butterworth@unimelb.edu.au.|Centre for Mental Health, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia.|Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Butterworth
authors.affiliation: Centre for Research on Ageing, Health & Wellbeing, Research School of Population Health, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia.
authors.forename: Liana S
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Leach
authors.affiliation: Centre for Research on Ageing, Health & Wellbeing, Research School of Population Health, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia.
authors.forename: Kim M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Kiely
mesh_terms: D001007:Anxiety / Q000453:epidemiology*; D001315:Australia / Q000453:epidemiology; D058445:Bullying / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003863:Depression / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017132:Workplace / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*
keywords: Workplace bullying; anxiety; depression; harassment; mental health