Risk factors for workplace bullying, severe psychological distress, and suicidal ideation during the COVID-19 pandemic: a nationwide internet survey for the general working population in Japan

  1. Kanami Tsuno
  2. Takahiro Tabuchi

Reviewed by

Read the full article See related articles

Listed in

Log in to save this article

Abstract

Objectives

The pandemic of the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has created a challenging environment for workers. This study aimed to investigate the risk factors for workplace bullying and mental health outcomes during the pandemic among workers.

Methods

We conducted a nationwide online cross-sectional survey from August to September 2020 in Japan (N = 16,384). Workplace bullying was measured by one item from the Brief Job Stress Questionnaire; severe psychological distress (SPD) by K6 (≥13); and suicidal ideation by one item. Prevalence ratios were calculated by Poisson regression analyses adjusting for potential confounders such as gender, age, occupational characteristics, and a prior history of depression.

Results

Overall, 15% of workers experienced workplace bullying, 9% had SPD, and 12% had suicidal ideation during the second and third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan. The results of this study showed men, executives, managers, and permanent employees had a higher risk of bullying compared to women or part-time workers.

Increased physical and psychological demands were common risk factors for bullying, SPD, and suicidal ideation. Newly starting working from home was a significant predictor for adverse mental health outcomes, however, it was found to be a preventive factor against workplace bullying.

Conclusions

The results of this study found different high-risk groups for bullying or mental health during the pandemic. When intervening to decrease workplace bullying or mental health problems, we should focus on not only previously reported vulnerable workers but also workers who experienced a change of their working styles or job demands.

Key messages

What is already known about this subject?

  • Workplace bullying is one of the severe job stressors in the workplace that cause mental health problems.

  • Health care workers, less-educated workers, and non-regular female workers have been reported to have greater psychological distress during the COVID-19 pandemic.

What are the new findings?

  • About 15% of workers experienced workplace bullying, 9% had SPD, and 12% had suicidal ideation during the pandemic in Japan.

  • Men, executives, managers, and permanent workers had a higher risk of bullying compared to women or part-time workers.

  • Increased physical or psychological demands were common risk factors for bullying, SPD, and suicidal ideation.

  • While newly starting working from home was a preventive factor against workplace bullying, it was found to be a significant risk factor for adverse mental health outcomes.

How might this impact on policy or clinical practice in the foreseeable future?

  • The results of this study indicate a different pattern of high-risk groups for bullying or mental health during the pandemic.

  • When intervening to decrease workplace bullying or mental health problems, we should focus on not only previously reported vulnerable workers but also workers who experienced a change of their working styles or job demands.

Article activity feed

  1. ScreenIT

    SciScore for 10.1101/2021.11.18.21266501: (What is this?)

    Please note, not all rigor criteria are appropriate for all manuscripts.

    Table 1: Rigor

    Ethicsnot detected.
    Sex as a biological variablenot detected.
    RandomizationThe survey requests were sent by the research agency (Rakuten Insight, Inc., Tokyo, Japan) to the 224,389 panelists who were selected by each gender, age, and prefecture category using simple random sampling.
    Blindingnot detected.
    Power Analysisnot detected.

    Table 2: Resources

    No key resources detected.

    Results from OddPub: We did not detect open data. We also did not detect open code. Researchers are encouraged to share open data when possible (see Nature blog).

    Results from LimitationRecognizer: We detected the following sentences addressing limitations in the study:
    Several limitations should be noted. First, this study was cross-sectional so that causality cannot be determined. Although we adjusted for a prior history of depression to omit reverse causality, a longitudinal study is needed to clarify the association between risk factors and workplace bullying, SPD, and suicidal ideation in the COVID-19 pandemic. Second, workplace bullying was measured by a self-labeling method, which may cause underestimation compared to the behavioral experience method that asks respondents how often they experienced the various negative acts without using the term “harassment” or “bullying.”1 Third, there might be a sampling bias due to the nature of an online survey. This may limit generalizability of our study results. Despite these limitations, this study was the first to identify important risk factors of workplace bullying, SPD, and suicidal ideation in the nationwide large-scale study for the general working population in Japan. The strengths of this study were investigating various risk factors including working styles and a change in job demands and revealed new risk factors: working from home for SPD or suicidal ideation and managers for workplace bullying. Further research is needed to examine other possible risk factors of workplace bullying, SPD, and suicidal ideation.

    Results from TrialIdentifier: No clinical trial numbers were referenced.

    Results from Barzooka: We did not find any issues relating to the usage of bar graphs.

    Results from JetFighter: We did not find any issues relating to colormaps.

    Results from rtransparent:
    • Thank you for including a conflict of interest statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
    • Thank you for including a funding statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
    • No protocol registration statement was detected.

    Results from scite Reference Check: We found no unreliable references.

    About SciScore

    SciScore is an automated tool that is designed to assist expert reviewers by finding and presenting formulaic information scattered throughout a paper in a standard, easy to digest format. SciScore checks for the presence and correctness of RRIDs (research resource identifiers), and for rigor criteria such as sex and investigator blinding. For details on the theoretical underpinning of rigor criteria and the tools shown here, including references cited, please follow this link.

  2. Version published to 10.1101/2021.11.18.21266501v1 on medRxiv