Workplace Violence and Psychosocial Risks Exposures: A Multicenter Cross-sectional Study

Background: Workplace violence has emerged as a major occupational health concern in healthcare settings, with growing evidence of its negative impact on workers’ physical and mental health, as well as on organizational performance. Primary care professionals are particularly vulnerable due to continuous patient contact and high emotional demands. The present study aimed to describe the prevalence of workplace violence and to examine its association with sociodemographic characteristics, working conditions, and psychosocial risk factors among primary healthcare professionals. Methods: A multicenter cross-sectional study was conducted in 2025 among healthcare professionals working in the Primary and Community Care Management of Central Catalonia, Spain. Data were collected through an anonymous online questionnaire that included sociodemographic and occupational variables, exposure to workplace violence, health-related outcomes, and psychosocial risks assessed using validated instruments, including the Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire (COPSOQ III). Descriptive analyses were performed to estimate frequencies, means, and standard deviations. Associations between workplace violence and study variables were examined using chi-square tests and Mann–Whitney U tests, as appropriate. Kendall’s Tau-b was calculated to assess associations between ordinal variables. Statistical analyses were conducted using SPSS version 29. Results: A total of 420 healthcare professionals participated in the study, of whom 68.1% reported having experienced workplace violence. Verbal and psychological violence was the most prevalent form (98.6%). Violence was significantly more reported among men, older workers, physicians and professionals with permanent contracts. A clear positive gradient was observed between adverse psychosocial risk exposure and workplace violence, such as high quantitative demands (p = 0.008), high emotional demands (p < 0.001), work-life conflict (p < 0.001), organizational justice (p < 0.001), job engagement (p < 0.001), burnout (p < 0.001), role clarity (p = 0.024), low social support from superiors (p = 0.047), self-efficacy (p = 0.005), and self-rated health (p < 0.001). In contrast, a statistically significant negative association was also observed between violence and job insecurity (p < 0.001). Conclusions: Workplace violence is highly prevalent among primary healthcare professionals and is strongly associated with unfavorable psychosocial working conditions. These findings underscore the need for organizational-level prevention strategies focusing on psychosocial risk management, particularly emotional demands, organizational justice, leadership support, and burnout prevention, to reduce workplace violence and protect healthcare workers’ well-being.