Workplace Gaslighting Affects Nurses’ Mental Health and Work Life: Evidence from Greece

Background/Objectives: Workplace gaslighting towards subordinates is an alarming issue. However, the negative consequences of workplace gaslighting in nurses are unknown. In this context, our aim was to examine the association between workplace gaslighting and nurses’ mental health and work life. Methods: We conducted an online cross-sectional study in Greece during December 2024. We employed a convenience sample of nurses. We used the Gaslighting at Work Scale (GWS) to measure levels of workplace gaslighting among our nurses. We used the Patient Health Questionnaire-4, the Quiet Quitting Scale, and the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale-3 to measure anxiety/depression, quiet quitting, and work engagement, respectively. Results: The study population included 369 nurses with a mean age of 37.86 years. We found that workplace gaslighting increases anxiety and depressive symptoms in our nurses. After adjustment for confounders, we found a positive association between GWS scores and anxiety (adjusted b = 0.758, 95% CI = 0.606 to 0.909, p<0.001), and depression (adjusted b = 0.720, 95% CI = 0.555 to 0.885, p<0.001). Moreover, our multivariable models showed a positive association between GWS scores and quiet quitting (adjusted b = 0.258, 95% CI = 0.186 to 0.330, p<0.001). Also, we found a negative association between GWS scores and work engagement (adjusted b = -0.353, 95% CI = -0.512 to -0.195, p<0.001). Conclusions: Our findings suggested that nurses who experience higher levels of gaslighting from their supervisors have also more anxiety and depressive symptoms. Moreover, workplace gaslighting increased levels of quiet quitting among our nurses and reduced their work engagement. Therefore, healthcare organizations, policy makers, and supervisors should pay special attention to workplace gaslighting by implementing appropriate interventions to reduce its prevalence.