The Effect of Workplace Bullying Perception on Psychological Symptoms: A Structural Equation Approach

BACKGROUND: The aims of this study were to determine the extent of workplace bullying perceptions among the employees of a Faculty of Medicine, evaluating the variables considered to be associated, and determining the effect of workplace bullying perceptions on their psychological symptoms evaluated by the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI). METHODS: This cross-sectional study was performed involving 355 (88.75%) employees. RESULTS: Levels of perceived workplace bullying were found to increase with the increasing scores for BSI and BSI sub-dimensions of anxiety, depression, negative self, somatization, and hostility (all p < 0.001). One point increase in the workplace bullying perception score was associated with a 0.47 point increase in psychological symptoms evaluated by BSI. Moreover, the workplace bullying perception scores were most strongly affected by the scores of anxiety, negative self, depression, hostility, and somatization (all p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: The present results revealed that young individuals, divorced individuals, faculty members, and individuals with a chronic disease had the greatest workplace bullying perceptions with our study population. Additionally, the BSI, anxiety, depression, negative self, somatization, and hostility scores of the individuals with high levels of workplace bullying perceptions were also high.

Connection between dysmenorrheal and depression among a group of Turkish high school female students

The aim was to estimate the prevalence of dysmenorrheal and also the connection between dysmenorrheal and depression among girl students. This study was conducted at both vocational high schools in a province in the west of Turkey from March 1[st] to April 30[th] 2010. The Beck Depression Scale [BDS] to determine the presence of depression, and the Visual Analogue Scale [VAS] were used. In analysis of the data, Chi square and Student's t test were used, with a p value lower than 0.05 being considered significant. The extent of dysmenorrheal was 71.5%. It was higher in those with menstrual irregularity, in those with positive family history of dysmenorrheal and in those consuming coffee [p < 0.05 in each case]. The prevalence of depression was higher in girls experiencing dysmenorrheal compared to those without [p < 0.05]. There was a positive correlation between the severity of painful menstruation and mean BDS scores [p < 0.05]. Educational programs need to be considered in terms of recommendation to reduce dysmenorrheal