Citation

Sabbath EL, Williams JAR, Boden LI, Tempesti T, Wagner GR, Hopcia K, Hashimoto D, Sorensen G. J. Occup. Environ. Med. 2018; 60(8): 737-742.

Affiliation

Boston College School of Social Work (Sabbath); University of Kansas School of Medicine (Williams); Boston University School of Public Health (Boden); University of Massachusetts Lowell (Tempesti); Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health (Wagner); Partners HealthCare System, Inc. (Hopcia); Partners HealthCare System, Inc., Boston College Law School (Hashimoto); and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Center for Community-based Research, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health (Sorensen).

Copyright

(Copyright © 2018, Lippincott Williams and Wilkins)

DOI

10.1097/JOM.0000000000001322

PMID

29538275

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Bullied workers have poor self-reported mental health; monetary costs of bullying exposure are unknown. We tested associations between bullying and health plan claims for mental health diagnoses.

METHODS: We used data from 793 hospital workers who answered questions about bullying in a survey and subscribed to the group health plan. We used two-part models to test associations between types of incivility/bullying and mental health expenditures.

RESULTS: Workers experiencing incivility or bullying had greater odds of any mental health claims. Among claimants, unexposed workers spent $792, those experiencing one type of incivility or bullying spent $1,557 (p for difference from unexposed=0.016), those experiencing two types spent $928 (p = 0.503), and those experiencing three types spent $1,446 (p = 0.040).

CONCLUSIONS: Workplace incivility and bullying may carry monetary costs to employers, which could be controlled through work environment modification.

Language: en