RESUMO
OBJECTIVE: Mobbing at work has become an alarming phenomenon worldwide. The prevalence of mobbing among women is higher than among men. The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship of mobbing as a psychosocial stress in the workplace with general psychopathology and psychotic experiences among women. METHOD: 428 women from the Medical Faculty of Dokuz Eylul University were included in the study. Of the 428 women, 139 were doctors, 190 were nurses, and 99 were sub-contracted employees. Stratified and cluster sampling METHODS were used. Sociodemographic data form, mobbing scale and symptom checklist (SCL-90-R) were used in order to collect the data. RESULTS: 304 (71%) of the participants had experienced mobbing at least once. It was determined that nurses had experienced mobbing more frequently than doctors and sub-contracted employee. Total and subscale scores of the mobbing scale were statistically higher in participants who went to psychiatry outpatient clinics and who use psychiatric medication and alcohol. There was a positive statistically significant correlation between SCL-90-R and mobbing scale scores. Correlation coefficients ranged from 0.25 to 0.56. The highest correlation was between the paranoid sub-scale of SCL-90-R and mobbing (r= 0.56) CONCLUSION: Generally, exposure to mobbing seems to be related with higher psychopathology. Also, according to our research results, mobbing is a psychosocial stress source that might be triggering subthreshold psychotic experiences.
