Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38459468›Full record

ArticleBMC public health2024

Bidirectional associations between workplace bullying and sickness absence due to common mental disorders - a propensity-score matched cohort study.

Rebecka Holmgren, Alessandra Grotta, Kristin Farrants, Linda L Magnusson Hanson

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMC public health, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Prevalence of bullying in academic medical libraries in the United States.Journal of the Medical Library Association : JMLA · 2026
    Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Rebecka HolmgrenStress Research Institute, Division of Psychobiology and Epidemiology, Department of Psychology, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden. rebecka.holmgren@su.se.
Alessandra GrottaDepartment of Public Health Sciences, Stockholm University, Sweden & Centre for Health Equity Studies, Stockholm University/Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
Kristin FarrantsDivision of Insurance Medicine, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
Linda L Magnusson HansonStress Research Institute, Division of Psychobiology and Epidemiology, Department of Psychology, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden.

Funding

Forskningsrådet om Hälsa, Arbetsliv och Välfärd 2019-01318
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThe link between workplace bullying and poor mental health is well-known. However, little is known about the prospective and potentially reciprocal association between workplace bullying and mental health-related sickness absence. This 2-year prospective study examined bidirectional associations between exposure to workplace bullying and sickness absence due to common mental disorders (SA-CMD) while controlling for confounding factors from both work and private life.

methodsThe study was based on propensity score-matched samples (N = 3216 and N = 552) from the Swedish Longitudinal Occupational Survey of Health, using surveys from years 2012, 2014 and 2016. Self-reported exposure to workplace bullying was linked to registry-based information regarding medically certified SA-CMD (≥ 14 consecutive days). The associations were examined by means of Cox proportional hazards regression and via conditional logistic regression analysis. Hazard ratios and odds ratios with 95% confidence intervals were estimated.

resultsExposure to workplace bullying was associated with an increased risk of incident SA-CMD (HR: 1.3, 95% CI: 1.0-1.8), after accounting for the influence of job demands, decision authority, previous SA-CMD, as well as other sociodemographic covariates. However, we found no statistically significant association between SA-CMD and subsequent workplace bullying (OR 1.2, 95% CI 0.7-1.9).

conclusionsThe results support an association between self-reported workplace bullying and SA-CMD, independent of other sociodemographic factors and workplace stressors. Preventing workplace bullying could alleviate a share of the individual and societal burden caused by SA globally.

Indexed as

BullyingMental DisordersOccupational StressCohort StudiesHumansPropensity ScoreProspective StudiesSick LeaveWorkplaceBullyingMental disordersOccupational stressPropensity scoreSick leave

Identifiers

PMID38459468
PMCPMC10921817

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

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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.