Dataset Information

Descriptive study of workplace demand, control and bullying among migrant and Australian-born workers by gender: does workplace support make a difference?

ABSTRACT:

Objective

The objective of this study is to examine the relationship between bullying in migrants and Australians and types of workplace Iso-strain, by gender.

Design and setting

Two descriptive cross-sectional surveys of the Australian working population.

Participants

Australian-born workers of Caucasian ancestry (n=1051, participant response rate=87.3%) and workers born in New Zealand (n=566), India (n=633) and the Philippines (n=431) (participant response rate=79.5%).

Primary and secondary outcomes measures

Using logistic regression, we examined whether self-reported assessment of various forms of bullying in the workplace was associated with Iso-strain (job with high demands and low control and without social support), gender and migrant status.

Results

The prevalence of workplace bullying within the previous year was 14.5%. Sexual harassment, though rare (n=47, 1.8%), was reported by more women than men (83% vs 17%, ?²=19.3, p<0.0001) and more Australia or New Zealand born workers compared to India or the Philippines workers (75.5% vs 25.5%, ?²=4.6, p=0.032). Indian-born women had lower adjusted OR for being bullied and for being intimidated compared to other women. Independent of migrant status, Iso-strain (1), (low support from boss) and Iso-strain (2), (low support from colleagues) predicted being bullied. Women were more likely to be in an Iso-strain (1) job than men (18.7% vs 13.6%, p=0.013) and had twice the risk of being both verbally abused and intimidated compared to men (OR 9 vs OR 5.5, p<0.0001).

Conclusion

Workplace bullying was more likely for women than men. There were few differences between workers from different migrant groups. Iso-strain was the strongest predictor of workplace bullying. Workplaces should encourage supportive and collegiate work environments.

SUBMITTER: Reid A

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7322333 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Descriptive study of workplace demand, control and bullying among migrant and Australian-born workers by gender: does workplace support make a difference?

Reid Alison A Daly Alison A LaMontagne Anthony D AD Milner Allison A Ronda Pérez Elena E

BMJ open 20200628 6

<h4>Objective</h4>The objective of this study is to examine the relationship between bullying in migrants and Australians and types of workplace Iso-strain, by gender.<h4>Design and setting</h4>Two descriptive cross-sectional surveys of the Australian working population.<h4>Participants</h4>Australian-born workers of Caucasian ancestry (n=1051, participant response rate=87.3%) and workers born in New Zealand (n=566), India (n=633) and the Philippines (n=431) (participant response rate=79.5%).<h4 ...[more]

PMID: 32595148

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Project description:Background: To overcome the problem of a high prevalence of undiscovered or untreated arterial hypertension in people of working age, the effects of behavioral change counseling in occupational health (OH) services should be investigated. The technique of motivational interviewing (MI) to support health-related lifestyle changes by physicians and/or occupational nurses ('health coach') has been shown to be successful in patients with chronic diseases. In 2010, we planned a randomized controlled trial (RCT) with employees who suffer from mild arterial hypertension. A preliminary feasibility study was performed in a large manufacturing company in Germany. Methods: All employees with elevated blood pressure measured by the OH-service were invited to undergo validation by 30 self-measurements. Persons with validated elevated values and without medical treatment received either usual hypertension counseling (control group, CG) or intensified MI-counseling (intervention group, IG) by the occupational health physician. Subsequently, the IG received MI-support from the 'health coach' in four telephone counseling sessions. Assessed feasibility factors included organizational processes, the acceptance of the validation procedure and the MI-counseling, and as primary outcome for an RCT the extent to which participants made health-related changes to their lifestyles. Results: Initially, 299 individuals were included in Study Part A (screening). At the end of Study Part B (intervention), out of 34 participants with validated and non-treated mild hypertension, only 7 (IG) and 6 (CG) participants completed the intervention including documentation. The high drop-out rate was due to the frequent lack of willingness to perform the 30 self-measurements at home with their own equipment. Acceptance was little higher when we changed the method to two repeated measurements in the OH service. MI-counseling, especially by the health coach, was evaluated positively. Conclusions: Despite the promising counseling approach, the feasibility study showed that an RCT with previous screening in the operational setting can only be implemented with high financial and personnel effort to reach an appropriate number of subjects. This substantial result could only be achieved through this comprehensive feasibility study, which investigated all aspects of the planned future RCT.

Dataset Information

Descriptive study of workplace demand, control and bullying among migrant and Australian-born workers by gender: does workplace support make a difference?

Objective

Design and setting

Participants

Primary and secondary outcomes measures

Results

Conclusion

Publications

Descriptive study of workplace demand, control and bullying among migrant and Australian-born workers by gender: does workplace support make a difference?

Similar Datasets

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