ArticleInternational archives of occupational and environmental health2020
Workplace bullying, mental distress, and sickness absence: the protective role of social support.
Article in International archives of occupational and environmental health, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 30 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
30 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 91 citations in OpenAlex.
- Work-Related Psychosocial Risk and Protective Factors Influencing Workplace Sickness Absence: A Systematic Literature Review.Journal of occupational rehabilitation · 2026Pooled it
- Correlations among workplace bullying, work stress, and social support: a meta-analysis with structural equation modeling.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Pooled it
- Workplace bullying, symptoms of anxiety and the interaction with leadership quality - a longitudinal study using dynamic panel models with fixed effects.Scandinavian journal of work, environment & health · 2023Pooled it
- Associations between workplace bullying and later benefit recipiency among workers with common mental disorders.International archives of occupational and environmental health · 2022Trial
- Who Protects Youth from Suicide After Bullying? Comparative Effects of Family, Peer and Teacher Support in Spanish Adolescents.Journal of child & adolescent trauma · 2026Article
- Mental health in academia: A national survey on risk and protective factors in the Indonesian context.PloS one · 2026Article
- The Impact of Workplace Bullying on Turnover Intention and Psychological Distress: The Indirect Role of Support from Supervisors.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2024Article
- The role of familial factors and neuroticism in the association between exposure to offensive behaviors at work and long-term sickness absence due to common mental disorders - a prospective twin study.BMC public health · 2024Article
- Bidirectional associations between workplace bullying and sickness absence due to common mental disorders - a propensity-score matched cohort study.BMC public health · 2024Article
- The role of supervisor support in the association between night work and depressive symptoms: a gender-stratified analysis of 22,422 full-time wage workers in Korea.Epidemiology and health · 2024Article
- 'God is always on my side': internal and external predictors of workplace bullying targets' help-seeking behavior in a religious context.Frontiers in psychology · 2024Article
- The effects of an intervention program on psychosocial factors and consequences during the COVID-19 pandemic in a Chilean technology services company: A quasiexperimental study.Health science reports · 2023Article
- Exposure to work-related violence and/or threats of violence as a predictor of certified sickness absence due to mental disorders: a prospective cohort study of 16,339 Swedish men and women in paid work.International archives of occupational and environmental health · 2023Article
- Exposure to Bullying or Hazing During Deployment and Mental Health Outcomes Among US Army Soldiers.JAMA network open · 2023Article
- Practical pathway for the management of depression in the workplace: a Canadian perspective.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2023Review
- Alcohol Use during COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Survey among Healthcare and Office Workers in Italy.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- Workplace Bullying and Long-Term Sickness Absence-A Five-Year Follow-Up Study of 2476 Employees Aged 31 to 60 Years in Germany.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- Does Social Support Matter in the Workplace? Social Support, Job Satisfaction, Bullying and Harassment in the Workplace during COVID-19.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- Article
- Sexual and gender harassment in Swedish workplaces: A prospective cohort study on implications for long-term sickness absence.Scandinavian journal of work, environment & health · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
purposeThis study examined the protective effects of supervisor, colleague, and non-work-related social support on the associations between workplace bullying, mental distress, and medically certified sickness absence. We hypothesized that social support moderated the direct association between workplace bullying and mental distress as well as the indirect association between bullying and sickness absence through mental distress. We also hypothesized that the protective effects of social support were stronger among women than among men.
methodsA sample of 10,627 employees was recruited from 96 Norwegian organizations. Workplace bullying, mental distress, and social support were assessed through a questionnaire survey and responses were linked to official registry data on medically certified sickness absence for the year following the survey assessment.
resultsThe results showed that all three investigated sources of social support moderated the direct association between workplace bullying and mental distress. Supervisor support moderated the indirect association between workplace bullying and sickness absence through mental distress among both male and female respondents, whereas colleague support moderated this indirect association among women only. Non-work-related support had no protective effect on the indirect association.
conclusionsThe findings suggest that social support, and especially supervisor support, is beneficial with regard to reducing the negative impact of workplace bullying on health and work ability of those exposed. Organizations should, therefore, include social support in interventions targeting bullying.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.