Comprehending the disruptive influence of workplace gaslighting behaviours and mobbing on nurses' career entrenchment: A multi-centre inquiry.

AIM: To explore the disruptive influence of workplace gaslighting behaviours and mobbing on nurses' career entrenchment across multiple healthcare centres. DESIGN: A multi-centre cross-sectional. METHODS: Data were collected from 483 nurses from various healthcare settings in Egypt, spanning from January 2024 to February 2024. The Gaslighting at Work Questionnaire, Luxembourg Workplace Mobbing Scale and Career Entrenchment Scale were employed for data collection. RESULTS: The study revealed moderate levels of gaslighting, mobbing and nurses' career entrenchment. Also, there is a negative correlation between nurses' career entrenchment and both gaslighting and mobbing, while gaslighting and mobbing exhibit a positive correlation. The study also highlighted regional disparities in the prevalence of these phenomena, with the highest incidences noted in urban healthcare settings. CONCLUSION: The findings underscore the critical impact of workplace gaslighting and mobbing on nurses' career entrenchment. REPORTING METHOD: The relevant reporting method has been adhered to, that is, STROBE. IMPLICATION FOR THE PROFESSION: The future of the nursing profession requires building productive nurses who can cope with negative workplace experiences. This could be achieved by cultivating a workplace culture that has zero tolerance for these experiences. Offering counselling services or employee assistance programmes to help nurses cope with the emotional toll of these negative experiences is a promising strategy. IMPACT: This study is the first to examine serious workplace practices like gaslighting and mobbing in a nursing context, emphasizing their effect on nursing-sensitive indicators like career entrenchment. It is one of the important initiatives geared towards upgrading the competitiveness and magnetism of healthcare organizations in the era of green human resources management. Results provide valuable insights for nurse leaders to control nursing turnover and shortage crises in different endeavours. PATIENT OR PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION: In our study, nurses from diverse geographical regions and varied specialties actively participate, offering a rich tapestry of experiences and perspectives.

Determinants of hyena participation in risky collective action.

Collective action problems arise when cooperating individuals suffer costs of cooperation, while the benefits of cooperation are received by both cooperators and defectors. We address this problem using data from spotted hyenas fighting with lions. Lions are much larger and kill many hyenas, so these fights require cooperative mobbing by hyenas for them to succeed. We identify factors that predict when hyena groups engage in cooperative fights with lions, which individuals choose to participate and how the benefits of victory are distributed among cooperators and non-cooperators. We find that cooperative mobbing is better predicted by lower costs (no male lions, more hyenas) than higher benefits (need for food). Individual participation is facilitated by social factors, both over the long term (close kin, social bond strength) and the short term (greeting interactions prior to cooperation). Finally, we find some direct benefits of participation: after cooperation, participants were more likely to feed at contested carcasses than non-participants. Overall, these results are consistent with the hypothesis that, when animals face dangerous cooperative dilemmas, selection favours flexible strategies that are sensitive to dynamic factors emerging over multiple time scales.

Investigating Mobbing Syndrome's Incidence in the Working Environment of a Public and a Private Greek Hospital.

To investigate the phenomenon of moral harassment (mobbing) as well as the effect of demographic and occupational characteristics of healthcare professionals working in a public provincial general hospital and a private hospital in Athens a cross-sectional survey was designed. The study was conducted from November to December 2021 through the application of the Leymann Inventory of Psychological Terror (LIPT) a widely recognized research tool for the quantitative investigation of ethical harassment in the workplace. 264 fully completed questionnaires were collected out of the 300 that were distributed in both hospitals (response rates: 92% for the public hospital and 83.3% for the private). It was observed that private hospital's employees were morally harassed to a greater extent and for a longer time than the employees of a public hospital. The levels of moral harassment were quite high, indicating the necessity of thorough audit by the management in both hospitals.

Neotropical Birds Respond Innately to Unfamiliar Acoustic Signals.

AbstractMany animals respond to heterospecific signals that indicate the presence of food or predators. Although the benefits of responding are clear, the behavioral and cognitive mechanisms underlying responses are not. Whether responses are learned, innate, or an epiphenomenon created by following other species as they respond to signals remains unknown because most studies have involved respondents that are sympatric with their heterospecific signalers and that have therefore had opportunities to learn their signals. In this study, we tested the mechanisms underlying avian responses to heterospecific chick-a-dee calls. All North American parids produce chick-a-dee calls in response to arousing stimuli, such as food and predators, and diverse species respond by approaching the caller and consuming the food or mobbing the predator. We broadcast chick-a-dee calls plus two control stimuli in Costa Rica, Colombia, and Brazil, where no parids ever occur. We conducted our trials in the winter, when Neotropical migrants that might be familiar with chick-a-dee calls were present, and in the temperate breeding season, when migrants were absent. Across 138 trials, 38 resident species from 14 families and four orders responded to chick-a-dee calls by approaching to within 5 m of the playback speaker. A phylogenetic logistic regression showed that whether a species responded was not significantly associated with the species' mean body mass or the structural similarity between its calls and chick-a-dee calls. Residents were significantly more likely to approach chick-a-dee calls than either control stimulus. This pattern was unaffected by the presence of migrants, thus demonstrating that the observed responses are innate. Our study shows that learning cannot fully explain responses to heterospecific chick-a-dee calls and that structural features distinguishing these calls from other vocalizations are important.

Intervention types and their effects on workplace bullying among nurses: A systematic review.

AIM: We aim to integrate the literature on workplace bullying among nurses and identify characteristics of anti-bullying interventions. BACKGROUND: Workplace bullying in nursing is a major concern, potentially affecting nursing practice, patient outcomes and nurses' health. EVALUATION: PubMed, Cochrane Library, CINAHL, EMBASE and PsychINFO were searched for English articles published between January 2011 and December 2020 on workplace bullying among nurses. Eight articles were selected, and quality assessment and data extraction followed. KEY ISSUES: Although the studies employed various intervention approaches, their workplace bullying conceptualizations and instruments varied, as did the outcome variables selected to assess the effects of the intervention. CONCLUSION: Anti-bullying interventions were effective, and the methods of their delivery have diversified. However, issues such as the lack of conceptual clarity, intervention specificity and elaboration remain unaddressed. Further studies are needed to develop updated and standardized instruments to tailor anti-bullying interventions. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT: Upgraded intervention strategies that reflect the contemporary nursing context and participant characteristics are warranted to ensure workplace bullying prevention. Active intervention by upper management is essential to develop and implement effective workplace bullying interventions.

[Conceptual Determination of Cyberbullying and Subjective Strain of Persons Affected]. / Begriffliche Eingrenzung von Cybermobbing und subjektive Belastung für Betroffene.

This paper addresses the definition of cyberbullying. The emancipation of this term during the past decade is described and put in contrast to traditional bullying. Furthermore, themeaning of the subjective strain of affected persons is explored, which is largely neglected in definitions and the state of the art of cyberbullying. This is based in empirical data of 40 qualitative interviews of adolescents who were 13 to 17 years old.The explorative examination was based in the GroundedTheory.These demonstrate insistently several aspects of the subjective strain from which victims suffer. Overall, the findings indicate that a holistic view on cyberbullying should not exclude the subjective perception of affected persons. In contrary, it should rather address them through further research.

Stress, anxiety and depression among gastronomes: association with workplace mobbing and work-family interaction.

INTRODUCTION: The work in commercial restaurant kitchens is characterized by many labor´s demands and strict commands that can cause damage to the mental health of gastronomes. The aim of this study was to verify the presence of stress, anxiety, and depression among gastronomy workers and associate them with the presence of mobbing at work. Still, it sought to evaluate the work-family interference and test its mediating role in the relationship between mobbing and psychopathology indicators. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This is an observational-analytical, cross-sectional study with a quantitative approach, in which 160 gastronomes participated (59.4% women), with an average age of 30.81 years. All answered a Sociodemographic and Labor Data Questionnaire, Negative Acts at Work Questionnaire, Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale, and Work-Family Interaction Scale, whose data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. RESULTS: A positive association was found between bullying and indicators of stress, anxiety, and depression, as well as negative interference between work-family and family-work with the same indicators. It was also observed the mediating effect of negative interference from work in family, in the relationship between mobbing and indicators of stress, anxiety, and depression. CONCLUSION: It was concluded, therefore, that the experience of mobbing affects the family and intensifies the psychological illness in gastronomes.

[Bullying experiences in outpatients of a child and adolescent psychotherapy centre - A particularly vulnerable group?] / Bullying-Erfahrungen bei PatientInnen einer Ambulanz für Kinder- und Jugendpsychotherapie ­ eine besonders gefährdete Gruppe?

Bullying experiences in outpatients of a child and adolescent psychotherapy centre - A particularly vulnerable group? Abstract. Objective: Bullying has both short- and long-term effects on physical and mental health. Thus, more victimized children might tend to be found in clinical samples. This is the first study to examine the prevalence of bullying roles and modes in children/adolescents in a psychotherapeutic outpatient setting in Germany. Method: 298 outpatients being treated in a child/adolescent psychotherapy centre (6-20 years, 50.7 % female) completed a questionnaire concerning their bullying experiences over the last 6 months. Results: 24.5 % of the patients reported from a victim's perspective, independent of being perpetrators of bullying. 19.1 % reported solely as victims, 5.4 % as victims who also bullied (bully-victims), and 2.0 % as bullies. More than one-third of those with victim or bully-victim experiences had been polyvictimized, 86.2 % were victims solely of traditional bullying, and 1.4 % solely of cyberbullying. The exploratory comparison to general-population school samples seems to show significantly more patients with victim experiences and significantly less patients who bullied others. There seem to be no significant effects for bully-victims. Compared to an inpatient sample, significantly fewer adolescent patients seem to state being victims or bully-victims. Conclusions: Bullying is a topic of particular importance in the context of psychotherapy. These findings have implications for the psychotherapeutic practice as well as training settings.

[Mobbing at work in Italy: a need for legislation on a growing problem]. / Il mobbing sul lavoro in Italia: un fenomeno crescente in cerca di legislazione.

SUMMARY: Mobbing at work is defined as the presence of violent behaviors, including physical and emotional abuse, by co-workers, subordinates or superiors to force someone out of the workplace through rumor, innuendo, intimidation, humiliation, discrediting, and isolation. According to recent Italian data, it has been estimated that about 1 million and 404 thousand women have been victims of mobbing or sexual abuse. Unfortunately, to date, a specific legislation for mobbing is lacking, and judge's sentences are based only on personal interpretations/applications on current Italian laws on violence and work-stress, as well as on the growing Supreme Court sentences regarding this hot issue. This perspective paper aims to better define the mobbing phenomenon, highlighting the main concerns and offering potential solutions.

Mobbing, subjective perception, demographic factors, and prevalence of burnout syndrome in nurses.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of the study was to assess the prevalence of burnout syndrome and mobbing, to determine their mutual relationship, and to identify predictors related to the probability of occurrence of burnout syndrome in general nurses working in hospitals. METHODS: The work is designed as a cross-sectional study. The research took place in 2018 and the sample included 250 general nurses. Statistical evaluation was performed by means of descriptive statistics, Spearman's correlation coefficient, and logistic regression. Three standardized questionnaires were used - Maslach Burnout Inventory, Negative Questionnaire Act and SUPSO. RESULTS: The research revealed burnout syndrome in the area of emotional exhaustion in 28.8% of nurses, of depersonalization in 15.2%, and in the area of personal accomplishment in 38.4%. 51.2% of nurses never experienced mobbing at workplace, one act of mobbing over the last six months was reported by 17.6% of respondents, two and more acts by 31.2%. Logistic regression revealed that the probability of occurrence of burnout syndrome in the area of emotional exhaustion is influenced by age, sex and by the size of an urban area, it is increased by anxiety and depression. In the area of depersonalization the probability of incidence increases with impulsiveness and dejection. In the area of personal accomplishment the probability of burnout syndrome incidence is increased by the lack of psychological wellbeing and activeness, by restlessness and impulsiveness. Though there were found significant relationships between all component parts of burnout syndrome and mobbing, multivariate logistic regression did not show the impact of any component part of mobbing on the probability of occurrence of burnout syndrome. CONCLUSIONS: The research revealed that the probability of burnout syndrome incidence is related to socio-demographic factors as well as to an individual's psychological states and perceptions. Direct impact of mobbing on the probability of burnout syndrome incidence was inconclusive.

Mobbing and Violence at Work as Hidden Stressors and Work Ability Among Emergency Medical Doctors in Serbia.

Background and Objectives: People employed in emergency medical services represent a professional group which encounters events beyond ordinary human experience, great work demands, the risk of professional disputes, and stressful situations. The goal of this study is to examine the presence of mobbing and violence at work, as well as their influence on work ability of emergency medical doctors. Materials and Methods: The survey is conducted in Emergency Medical Service (EMS) in Nis in the period between December 2017 and January 2018. Using standardized questionnaires on psychosocial conditions in work environment (COPSOQ II) and work ability index (WAI) this study encompasses 79 doctors. For estimation of the examined factors' influence on WAI linear regression analysis was used. Results: EMS doctors were exposed to abuse in 30.4% of the cases. The decline in WAI is significantly related with exposure to violence by patients (ß = 0.727), exposure to physical violence (ß = 0.896), exposure to abuse several times (ß = 0.691) and exposure to ill-treatment by patients (ß = 0.750). Conclusion: The results indicate that in the examined doctors mobbing and workplace violence are very much present and have a negative impact on their work, and therefore on the quality of health care.

The role of associative learning process on the response of fledgling great tits (Parus major) to mobbing calls.

When they detect a predator, many species emit anti-predator vocalizations. In some cases, they emit mobbing calls, which are associated with the caller approaching and harassing the predator while attracting others to join it. Surprisingly, although mobbing has been widely reported in adults of numerous species, there has been no test of the role of learning in mobbing call recognition, especially during ontogeny. Here, we exposed wild great tit (Parus major) nestlings to playbacks of an unthreatening novel sound either associated with conspecific mobbing calls (experimental treatment) or with another unthreatening novel sound (control treatment). We then tested them as nestlings and fledglings to see how they respond to the novel sound compared to conspecific mobbing calls. Results revealed that fledglings in the experimental treatment behaved similarly to conspecific mobbing calls and the novel sound associated with conspecific mobbing calls. Because mobbing efficiency is often linked to interspecific communication, associative learning should be used by heterospecifics as mobbing calls recognition mechanism. Regardless of treatment during the nestling phase, fledglings always were sensitive to the playback of conspecific mobbing calls. However, fledglings from the control group were more likely to approach the loudspeaker than those from the experimental group when mobbing calls were played suggesting that overexposure during the nestling phase altered mobbing learning. Overall, these results suggest that learning could play a role in the recognition of calls, like heterospecific mobbing calls, when paired with conspecific mobbing, and that mobbing is perceived as a threatening stimulus from a very young age.

Are perceived bad working conditions and perceived workplace bullying associated with doctor visits? Results of the nationally representative German General Social Survey.

BACKGROUND: The reason for doctor visits associated with bad working conditions (and workplace bullying) remains unknown. Therefore, the aim of this study was to examine the association between perceived working conditions as well as workplace bullying and the number of doctor visits as well as the reason for seeing a doctor. METHODS: Data were derived from the German General Social Survey, a representative cross-section of the population in the year 2014. Self-reported doctor visits in the last 3 months were used as outcome measure. Self-rated working conditions (noise, bad air; time/performance pressure; bad working atmosphere; overtime; shifts/night work; hard physical labour) and workplace bullying were assessed. The reason for seeing a doctor was also recorded (acute illness; chronic illness; feeling unwell; requesting advice; visit to the doctor's office without consulting the doctor (e.g., need to get a prescription); preventive medical check-up/vaccination). Regression analysis stratified by sex was conducted. RESULTS: Adjusting for various potential confounders, Poisson regressions showed that workplace bullying was associated with increased doctor visits in men, but not in women. Contrarily, time/performance pressure at work was only associated with increased doctor visits in women, but not in men. Furthermore, the probability of visiting the doctor for reasons of acute illness or feeling unwell increased with workplace bullying in men. The probability of visiting the doctor because of feeling unwell increased with time/performance pressure in women. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings stress the association between adverse working conditions (workplace bullying as well as time/performance pressure at work) and doctor visits, with remarkable gender differences. Longitudinal studies are required to confirm the present findings and to obtain further insights into this relationship.

Workplace Bullying Among Nurses: Developing a Model for Intervention.

Workplace bullying is endemic to the nursing profession and it threatens nurses' health and ability to work safely. However, effective interventions to prevent workplace bullying are lacking. A sample of hospital nurses (n = 15) explored experiences of bullying and ideas for intervention via four focus groups in 2016. Four main themes emerged from the qualitative content analysis: (a) characteristics that define bullying behavior; (b) facilitators of bullying; (c) consequences of bullying; and (d) possible interventions. Although personal characteristics played a role, bullying was primarily facilitated by workplace and organizational factors that hindered the establishment of collegiality and team trust among nurses. Findings have informed a conceptual model for prevention of nurse-to-nurse bullying with ethical leadership and communication, trust, and social cohesion in work teams as key elements.

[Prevalence and characteristics of peer victimisation in adolescent psychiatric inpatients]. / Prävalenz und Charakteristika von Mobbingerfahrungen in einer klinischen Stichprobe von Jugendlichen.

Prevalence and characteristics of peer victimisation in adolescent psychiatric inpatients Abstract. Objective: Repeated and long-lasting victimisation, as defined by bullying, represents a wide spread health hazard. The aim of the present study was to present the prevalence of bullying in adolescent psychiatric inpatients. We analysed relations between bullying and sociodemographic and psychopathological variables. Furthermore, we investigated the number and nature of bullies, feasible resources, and parental perception on bullying in adolescence. Method: In total, 128 adolescent inpatients were surveyed with a bullying questionnaire and youth self-report. In addition, their clinical symptomatology was investigated. Results: Bullying affected one third of our sample. Male and female victims showed significantly more internal problems. Girls in addition revealed more external behaviour problems. Unlike non-suicidal, self-harming behaviour, suicidal ideation and suicidal behaviour occurred significantly more in patients with bullying experience. Conclusion: A significant number of adolescent in our sample experienced bullying and associated psychological strains. This should especially be considered in child and adolescent anamnesis.

[Shame and Compassion: Potential Mechanisms Behind Bullying and Depressive Symptoms]. / Scham und Mitgefühl: Potenzielle Wirkmechanismen bei Mobbing und depressiver Symptomatik.

Shame and Compassion: Potential Mechanisms Behind Bullying and Depressive Symptoms With a prevalence of 11 % depression is a relevant topic for child- and adolescent-psychiatry. Different factors play a role in genesis and maintenance of depressive symptoms. Shame-proneness and experience with bullying are discussed as reinforcing factors. On the other hand self-compassion is considered to be a protective factor. In this study it is analyzed, whether shame-proneness and self-compassion moderate the influence of bully-experience on depressive symptoms. Data of depressive adolescent in-patients (n = 37) and healthy controls (n = 19) is analyzed. It could be shown that high shame-proneness reinforces the influence of bully-experience on depressive symptoms. General self-compassion has no moderating influence. However, self-kindness is a protective factor against the negative impact of bully-experience on depressive symptoms. Results are discussed regarding their relevance for therapy and prevention.

Collective Action Promoted by Key Individuals.

Explaining why individuals participate in risky group behaviors has been a long-term challenge. We experimentally studied the formation of groups of birds (mobs) that aggressively confront predators and avian nest parasites and developed a theoretical model to evaluate the conditions under which mobs arise. We presented taxidermied mounts of predators on adult birds (hawks and owls) and of nest threats (crows and cuckoos) at different distances to nests of Phylloscopus warblers. Even when alone, birds are aggressive toward predators of adult birds, both at and away from their nests. By contrast, birds aggressively confront nest threats alone only when they have a nest nearby. However, strong initial responses by nest owners lead individuals without nearby nests to increase their responses, thereby generating a mob. Building on these findings, we derive the conditions in which individuals are incentivized to invest more when joining a high-gain individual compared to when acting alone. Strong responses of high-gain individuals acting alone tend to reduce the investments of other high-gain individuals that subsequently join. However, individuals that benefit sufficiently little from acting alone increase their investments when joining a high-gain individual and can even be sufficiently incentivized to join in when they would otherwise not act alone. Together, these results suggest an important role for key individuals in the generation of some group behaviors.

Psychosocial risks in healthcare.

Medical and allied health professions are characteristic of an everyday intense contact with patients and clients. However, these interactions also bring about increased danger of psychosocial risks. Psychosocial risks involve job content, its organization and management, as well as its social context. As such they may pose serious consequences for health and well-being of the professionals. The European Agency for Safety and Health at Work counts among major psychosocial risks: stress at work, burnout syndrome, mobbing/bullying, violence at work, working hours and substance abuse. The aim of the presented article is to give a brief survey of the basic psychosocial risks and their consequences for both health care workers and their patients. Keywords: psychosocial risks, psychosocial deprivation, mobbing, bullying, working hours, violence, drug abuse, workplace stress, occupational burnout, occupational safety.

Naive Juveniles Are More Likely to Become Breeders after Witnessing Predator Mobbing.

Responding appropriately during the first predatory attack in life is often critical for survival. In many social species, naive juveniles acquire this skill from conspecifics, but its fitness consequences remain virtually unknown. Here we experimentally demonstrate how naive juvenile Siberian jays (Perisoreus infaustus) derive a long-term fitness benefit from witnessing knowledgeable adults mobbing their principal predator, the goshawk (Accipiter gentilis). Siberian jays live in family groups of two to six individuals that also can include unrelated nonbreeders. Field observations showed that Siberian jays encounter predators only rarely, and, indeed, naive juveniles do not respond to predator models when on their own but do when observing other individuals mobbing them. Predator exposure experiments demonstrated that naive juveniles had a substantially higher first-winter survival after observing knowledgeable group members mobbing a goshawk model, increasing their likelihood of acquiring a breeding position later in life. Previous research showed that naive individuals may learn from others how to respond to predators, care for offspring, or choose mates, generally assuming that social learning has long-term fitness consequences without empirical evidence. Our results demonstrate a long-term fitness benefit of vertical social learning for naive individuals in the wild, emphasizing its evolutionary importance in animals, including humans.

Workplace bullying and the association with suicidal ideation/thoughts and behaviour: a systematic review.

The established links between workplace bullying and poor mental health provide a prima facie reason to expect that workplace bullying increases the risk of suicidal ideation (thoughts) and behaviours. Until now, there has been no systematic summary of the available evidence. This systematic review summarises published studies reporting data on workplace bullying and suicidal ideation, or behaviour. The review sought to ascertain the nature of this association and highlight future research directions. 5 electronic databases were searched. 2 reviewers independently selected the articles for inclusion, and extracted information about study characteristics (sample, recruitment method, assessment and measures) and data reporting the association of workplace bullying with suicidal ideation and behaviour. 12 studies were included in the final review-8 reported estimates of a positive association between workplace bullying and suicidal ideation, and a further 4 provided descriptive information about the prevalence of suicidal ideation in targets of bullying. Only 1 non-representative cross-sectional study examined the association between workplace bullying and suicidal behaviour. The results show an absence of high-quality epidemiological studies (eg, prospective cohort studies, which controlled for workplace characteristics and baseline psychiatric morbidity). While the available literature (predominantly cross-sectional) suggests that there is a positive association between workplace bullying and suicidal ideation, the low quality of studies prevents ruling out alternative explanations. Further longitudinal, population-based research, adjusting for potential covariates (within and outside the workplace), is needed to determine the level of risk that workplace bullying independently contributes to suicidal ideation and behaviour.