Person-Organization Fit in a military selection context.

The goal of personnel selection is to find predictors that, together, maximize the explained variance in important job outcomes such as Task Performance or Work Engagement. Common predictors include Intelligence and Big Five Personality. Using Person-Organization Fit (P-O Fit) for selection purposes has been discussed, but, beyond Intelligence and Personality, evidence of the incremental predictive validity of P-O Fit in relation to task performance and work engagement is scarce. This study examines the practical utility of indirectly measured P-O Fit as a selection tool in a military setting. Measures of objective P-O Fit were obtained from actual applicants in a military selection setting and combined with self-report measures of Work Engagement upon organizational entry, and supervisor-rated Task Performance approximately two weeks later. P-O Fit predicted both Task Performance (R2 = .041) and Work Engagement (R2 = .038). More importantly, P-O Fit yielded incremental predictive validity in relation to both outcomes, also after controlling for intelligence and personality traits. While our initial models (including age, gender, intelligence, and personality) explained 25.1% and 5.8% of the variance in work engagement and task performance, respectively, this increased to 26.3% and 6.3%, respectively, after the inclusion of P-O Fit. Implications for practical use in selection systems are discussed.

Young adults at risk of early work disability: who are they?

BACKGROUND: Young adults that are not in education, training or employment represent a problem across European countries. While some are cases of temporary transitions or short-term inactivity, others represent a more vulnerable group at risk of early work disability. Early exclusion from the labor market represents long lives exposed to detrimental effects of unemployment on health and well-being, and constitutes an economic burden for society. There is need for more knowledge about young adults who are at risk of early work disability but have not yet reached the point of more permanent exclusion. This study aims to investigate social and health-related problems in a Norwegian sample of young adults at risk of early work disability, and their self-perceived causes of illness. METHODS: Baseline data from participants in the SEED-trial (N = 96), a randomized controlled trial comparing individual placement and support to traditional vocational rehabilitation in young adults at risk of early work disability, were analyzed. Background, health behaviors, adverse social experiences, disability level, physical and mental health, social support, coping, and self-perceived causal attributions of illness were measured. Gender differences were analyzed using chi-square and t-tests. RESULTS: Mean age was 24, and 68% were men. One third reported reading and writing difficulties, and 40% had less than high-school education. The majority had experienced bullying (66%) or violence (39%), and 53% reported hazardous alcohol use. Psychological distress was the most prevalent health problem (52%), and women generally had more physical and mental health problems than men. Self-perceived causal attributions of illness were mainly related to relational problems, followed by health behaviors, heredity/genetics, and external environmental factors. CONCLUSIONS: The study provides a deeper insight into a vulnerable group with substantial challenges related to adverse social experiences, psychological distress, and alcohol use, who emphasized relational problems as the main causal factor for their illness. Findings suggest a need for broader focus on psychological and social factors in vocational rehabilitation efforts targeting young adults at risk of early work disability. Furthermore, gender-specific approaches may be warranted and should be followed up in future studies. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Clinicaltrials.gov: NCT02375074 . Retrospectively registered December 3rd 2014.

Psychometric properties of the Nursing Home Survey on Patient Safety Culture in Norwegian nursing homes.

BACKGROUND: Developing a culture where staff are actively aware of how to prevent adverse events is a challenge. The use of survey tools to assess the status of patient safety culture seems to be acceptable as an early step in improving patient safety. The Nursing Home Survey on Patient Safety Culture (NHSOPSC) includes 12 dimensions and is specifically developed for nursing homes. In this study, we describe a Norwegian version of the NHSOPSC and assess its psychometric properties when tested on a sample of healthcare staff in nursing homes. METHODS: The NHSOPSC was translated into Norwegian and pilot tested before being distributed to 12 nursing homes in Norway. Of the 671 healthcare staff invited, 466 (69 %) answered the questionnaire. SPSS 23.0 was used for descriptive data analysis and estimating internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha). The dimensional structure of the questionnaire was tested by confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) using Mplus (version 7.2). RESULTS: The CFA testing of the original 12-factor solution suggested that some modifications were needed because of the high correlations between three of the latent factors. A subsequent analysis resulted in a final ten-factor solution. The final model showed acceptable fit to the data (root mean square error of approximation = 0.060, 90 % confidence interval: 0.057-0.063, comparative fit index = 0.934, Tucker-Lewis index = 0.926, χ (2) = 2058.33, df = 765, p < 0.001) and acceptable factor loadings ranging from 0.402 to 0.891. Moreover, moderate-to-strong correlations ranging from 0.455 to 0.812 were found between the ten latent factors. Finally, moderate-to-high correlations were found between the ten latent factors and an overall rating of patient safety in the nursing home. CONCLUSIONS: Factor analysis indicated that a modified ten-factor model fitted the data set in a Norwegian community healthcare context with acceptable goodness-of-fit values and could be recommended as a useful tool to assess staff perceptions of patient safety issues in Norwegian nursing homes.

Gay-related name-calling among Norwegian adolescents--harmful and harmless.

Being called names such as "gay," "faggot," "lezzie" may be experienced as both harmful or harmless by adolescents, depending on the situation in which the name-calling occurs. The aim of this study was to explore how being called gay-related names by agents with whom the relationship is differentiated by friendship, acquaintance status and perceived likeability is associated with depressive symptoms, and to explore associations between gay-related name-calling, bullying and depressive symptoms. The participants were 921 ninth grade pupils (450 boys) with an age range from 14 to 15 years from 15 schools. The study reveals that the participants' depressive symptoms were more associated with being called gay-related names by someone who did not like them or someone they did not know, than with being called gay-related names by a friend. Being called gay-related names was associated with higher levels of depressive symptoms, even when controlling for bullying. Boys who were bullied and called gay-related names had even higher levels of depressive symptoms, as indicated by an interaction effect found between being called gay-related names and bullying. Because of the potential harmfulness of gay-related name-calling, anti-bullying programmes should address this topic as a part of their regular anti-bullying strategy.

Subjective health complaints and self-rated health: are expectancies more important than socioeconomic status and workload?

BACKGROUND: The associations between socioeconomic status (SES), physical and psychosocial workload and health are well documented. According to The Cognitive Activation Theory of Stress (CATS), learned response outcome expectancies (coping, helplessness, and hopelessness) are also important contributors to health. This is in part as independent factors for health, but coping may also function as a buffer against the impact different demands have on health. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to investigate the relative effect of SES (as measured by level of education), physical workload, and response outcome expectancies on subjective health complaints (SHC) and self-rated health, and if response outcome expectancies mediate the effects of education and physical workload on SHC and self-rated health. METHODS: A survey was carried out among 1,746 Norwegian municipal employees (mean age 44.2, 81 % females). Structural Equation Models with SHC and self-rated health as outcomes were conducted. Education, physical workload, and response outcome expectancies, were the independent 28 variables in the model. RESULTS: Helplessness/hopelessness had a stronger direct effect on self-rated health and SHC than education and physical workload, for both men and women. Helplessness/hopelessness fully mediated the effect of physical workload on SHC for men (0.121), and mediated 30 % of a total effect of 0.247 for women. For women, education had a small but significant indirect effect through helplessness/hopelessness on self-rated health (0.040) and SHC (-0.040), but no direct effects were found. For men, there was no effect of education on SHC, and only a direct effect on self-rated health (0.134). CONCLUSIONS: The results indicated that helplessness/hopelessness is more important for SHC and health than well-established measures on SES such as years of education and perceived physical workload in this sample. Helplessness/hopelessness seems to function as a mechanism between physical workload and health.

When the Going Gets Tough and the Environment Is Rough: The Role of Departmental Level Hostile Work Climate in the Relationships between Job Stressors and Workplace Bullying.

In line with the work environment hypothesis, the present study investigates whether department-level perceptions of hostile work climate moderate the relationship between psychosocial predictors of workplace bullying (i.e., role conflicts and workload) and exposure to bullying behaviours in the workplace. The data were collected among all employees in a Belgian university and constitutes of 1354 employees across 134 departments. As hypothesized, analyses showed positive main effects of role conflict and workload on exposure to bullying behaviours. In addition, the hypothesized strengthening effect of department-level hostile work climate on the relationship between individual-level job demands and individual exposure to bullying behaviours was significant for role conflict. Specifically, the positive relationship between role conflict and exposure to bullying behaviours was stronger among employees working in departments characterized by a pronounced hostile work climate. In contrast to our predictions, a positive relationship existed between workload and exposure to bullying behaviours, yet only among individuals in departments with low hostile work climate. These findings contribute to the bullying research field by showing that hostile work climate may strengthen the impact of role stress on bullying behaviours, most likely by posing as an additional distal stressor, which may fuel a bullying process. These findings have important theoretical as well as applied implications.

Virtual team-cooperation from home-office: a quantitative diary study of the impact of daily transformational- and passive-avoidant leadership - and the moderating role of task interdependence.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, most of the workforce moved from office setting to home-office and virtual teamwork. Whereas the relationship between leadership and team cooperation in physical settings is well documented - less is known about how daily virtual team cooperation is influenced by daily constructive as well as destructive leadership, and how intervening mechanisms influence this relationship. In the present study, we test the direct effect of daily transformational- and passive avoidant leadership, respectively, on the daily quality of virtual team cooperation - and the moderating effect of task interdependence. Using virtual team cooperation as outcome, we hypothesized that (a) transformational leadership relates positively to virtual team cooperation, (b) passive-avoidant leadership relates negatively, and (c) moderated by task interdependence. Our hypotheses were tested in a 5-day quantitative diary study with 58 convenience sampled employees working from home in virtual teams. The results show that virtual team cooperation is a partially malleable process - with 28% variation in daily virtual team cooperation resulting from within team variation from day to day. Surprisingly, the results of multilevel modeling lend support only to the first hypothesis (a). Taken together, our findings suggest that in virtual settings, inspirational and development-oriented transformational leadership plays a key role in daily team cooperation, while passive-avoidance has little impact - independently of task interdependence. Hence, in virtual team settings, the study shows that "good is stronger than bad" - when comparing the negative effects of destructive leadership to the positive effect of constructive and inspirational leadership. We discuss the implications of these findings for further research and practice.

Daily interpersonal conflicts and daily negative and positive affect: exploring the moderating role of neuroticism.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Drawing on affective events theory, the present study investigates relationships between daily interpersonal conflicts and negative and positive affective reactions, and tested whether trait neuroticism moderates immediate (same day) and persisting (next-day) affective reactions. DESIGN AND METHODS: A sample of 53 Norwegian naval cadets completed a diary questionnaire for 30 consecutive days (total N = 1590). RESULTS: As predicted, the findings showed that cadets reported more negative affect (but not less positive affect) on days they were confronted with affective events that were of a conflicting nature. In addition, the proposed interaction effects between daily conflict and neuroticism were significant for both negative and positive affect. Specifically, the immediate and persistent effects of daily conflicts on negative affect were strongest for individuals high (vs. low) in neuroticism. Moreover, individuals high in neuroticism reported less positive affect on days with conflicts, whereas individuals low in neuroticism reported more positive affect the two days following interpersonal conflicts. CONCLUSIONS: The findings contribute to affective events theory with important knowledge about the role of trait neuroticism in dealing with interpersonal conflicts in a natural work setting.

Late-onset smokers: how many, and associations with health behaviours and socioeconomic status.

AIMS: Adolescence is considered a critical phase for smoking initiation, while smoking initiation in adulthood has received less attention. In the present study, we investigated smoking initiation in early adulthood, with an additional focus on how socioeconomic status (SES) relates to late-onset smoking. METHODS: The Norwegian Longitudinal Health Behaviour Study followed a representative sample of adolescents (n=530) from age 13 (7th grade) to age 30 (years 1990-2007) through 9 waves of data collection. Information was collected on the adolescents' gender, smoking, alcohol use, cannabis use, physical activity, and SES. Those reporting to be smokers at age 30, but not at age 18, were defined as "late-onset smokers". RESULTS: At age 30, 21% were daily smokers, of which 45% met our definition of late-onset smoking. Participants with a low SES had a higher odds ratio for late-onset smoking (OR=3.42) and a lower odds ratio for quitting smoking (OR=0.40) after adjusting for confounders. CONCLUSIONS: Early adulthood is an additional critical phase for daily smoking initiation. The clear and consistent negative association between SES and late-onset smoking, as well as the positive association between SES and smoking cessation, contribute to the association between SES and smoking in the general adult population.

Development of a work addiction scale.

Research into excessive work has gained increasing attention over the last 20 years. Terms such as "workaholism,""work addiction" and "excessive work" have been used interchangeably. Given the increase in empirical research, this study presents the development of the Bergen Work Addiction Scale (BWAS), a new psychometrically validated scale for the assessment of work addiction. A pool of 14 items, with two reflecting each of seven core elements of addiction (i.e., salience, mood modification, tolerance, withdrawal, conflict, relapse, and problems) was initially constructed. The items were then administered to two samples, one recruited by a web survey following a television broadcast about workaholism (n = 11,769) and one comprising participants in the second wave of a longitudinal internet-based survey about working life (n = 368). The items with the highest corrected item-total correlation from within each of the seven addiction elements were retained in the final scale. The assumed one-factor solution of the refined seven-item scale was acceptable (root mean square error of approximation = 0.077, Comparative Fit Index = 0.96, Tucker-Lewis Index = 0.95) and the internal reliability of the two samples were 0.84 and 0.80, respectively. The scores of the BWAS converged with scores on other workaholism scales, except for a Work Enjoyment subscale. A suggested cut-off for categorization of workaholics showed good discriminative ability in terms of working hours, leadership position, and subjective health complaints. It is concluded that the BWAS has good psychometric properties.

Daily work pressure and task performance: The moderating role of recovery and sleep.

Whereas previous research has focused on the link between (mental and physical) workload and task performance, less is known about the intervening mechanisms influencing this relationship. In the present study, we test the moderating roles of daily recovery and total sleep time in the relationship between work pressure and daily task performance. Using performance and recovery theories, we hypothesized that (a) work pressure relates positively to daily task performance, and that both (b) daily recovery in the form of psychological detachment and relaxation, and (c) total sleep time independently enhance this relationship. Our hypotheses were tested in a 30-day diary study with 110 officer cadets on a cross-Atlantic voyage on a Naval sail ship. The results of multilevel modeling lend support to all three hypotheses. Taken together, our findings suggest that recovery and sleep duration between shifts play a key role in the relationship between daily work pressure and task performance. We discuss the implications of these findings for the stressor-detachment model.

The impact of follower leadership position on transformational leadership as moderator of the association between work-related ambiguity and job satisfaction.

This two-part study examined if the buffering effect of transformational leadership on the association between work-related ambiguity and job satisfaction is contingent upon whether a follower holds a formal leadership position him/herself. Data from two separate surveys were employed: Study 1: A sample of 845 respondents from Belgium. Study 2: A national probability sample of 1,608 Norwegian employees. Study 1 showed that task ambiguity had a significant negative relation with job satisfaction, but that transformational leadership did only buffer the association between task ambiguity and job satisfaction among employees holding a formal position as a supervisor or manager. Study 2 extended Study 1 by adjusting for age and job tenure of subordinates as a confounding variable. Study 2 confirmed that transformational leadership had a significantly stronger impact on the observed association between role ambiguity and job satisfaction among respondents holding a supervisor or manager position. In conclusion, when considering job satisfaction as an outcome of work-related ambiguity, transformational leadership is mainly beneficial for followers holding a formal supervisor or manager position themselves. Our findings thereby question assumptions about the general effectiveness of transformational leadership.

Does loneliness mediate the stress-sleep quality relation? The Hordaland Health Study.

BACKGROUND: Sleep problems are common in the general population. A strong association between stress due to inadequate social relationships or loneliness and sleep problems has been found. This paper aims to investigate stress in close social relationships in relation to disrupted sleep patterns in middle-aged and older adults. In addition, in exploring the underlying processes involved in poor social interactions, loneliness is assumed to be a mediator in the stress-sleep quality relation. METHODS: Data from a community sample of 7074 Norwegian middle-aged and older adults in the Hordaland Health Study (HUSK) were used to examine the mediating role of loneliness. RESULTS: A significant association between interpersonal stress and both nocturnal sleep problems and daytime sleepiness was found in both age groups. This relation was mediated by loneliness (indirect path) as well as effected by a direct path (RMSEA = 0.051; CFI = 0.93). The size of the indirect effect varied with age. Nocturnal sleep problems were fully mediated by loneliness in the older group, while 74% of the total effect was mediated through loneliness in the middle-aged group. For daytime sleepiness, a partial mediation of 36% and 40% was observed for the two groups respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The mediation effects found in this study indicate that the wider social aspects of an individual's life should be taken into account when planning interventions for improving sleep quality in the elderly.

Distal and proximal family predictors of adolescents' smoking initiation and development: a longitudinal latent curve model analysis.

BACKGROUND: Studies on adolescent smoking indicate that the smoking behaviours of their parents, siblings and friends are significant micro-level predictors. Parents' socioeconomic status (SES) is an important macro-level predictor. We examined the longitudinal relationships between these predictors and the initiation and development of adolescents' smoking behaviour in Norway. METHODS: We employed data from The Norwegian Longitudinal Health Behaviour Study (NLHB), in which participants were followed from the age of 13 to 30. We analysed data from the first 5 waves, covering the age span from 13 to 18, with latent curve modeling (LCM). RESULTS: Smoking rates increased from 3% to 31% from age 13 to age 18. Participants' smoking was strongly associated with their best friends' smoking. Parental SES, parents' smoking and older siblings' smoking predicted adolescents' initial level of smoking. Furthermore, the same variables predicted the development of smoking behaviour from age 13 to 18. Parents' and siblings' smoking behaviours acted as mediators of parents' SES on the smoking habits of adolescents. CONCLUSIONS: Parents' SES was significantly associated, directly and indirectly, with both smoking initiation and development. Parental and older siblings' smoking behaviours were positively associated with both initiation and development of smoking behaviour in adolescents. There were no significant gender differences in these associations.

Exposure to Bullying Behaviors at Work and Depressive Tendencies: The Moderating Role of Victimization From Bullying During Adolescence.

The detrimental effects of exposure to bullying behaviors at work on employees' mental health have been thoroughly documented. However, few studies have examined whether employees' prior experiences with bullying may affect the strength of this relationship. The present study tested a model where victimization from bullying in adolescence was expected to (a) predict higher exposure to bullying behaviors at work and higher levels of depressive tendencies in adulthood and (b) strengthen the relationship between exposure to bullying behaviors at work and depressive tendencies (i.e., make employees more vulnerable). The hypotheses were tested using prospective data following a cohort of 536 Norwegian respondents over a time span of 17 years, from adolescence (age of 13) to adulthood (age of 30). Victimization from bullying in junior high school was measured at the age of 13, 14, and 15, and retrospectively at the age of 18. Exposure to bullying behaviors at work was measured at the age of 30, while depressive tendencies were measured at the age of 15 and at the age of 30. As predicted, those who had been bullied more (vs. less) in adolescence tended to have higher scores on depressive tendencies as adults and reported somewhat higher exposure to bullying behaviors at work. However, contrary to our predictions, the relationship between exposure to bullying behaviors at work and depressive tendencies in adulthood was weaker among those who had been bullied more (vs. less) in adolescence. The findings contribute to the scarce literature on the role of employees' prior victimization experiences and question the notion that prior victimization from bullying produces long-term vulnerability to future experiences of bullying.

Associations between adolescent socioeducational status and use of snus and smoking.

BACKGROUND: Findings from studies on the association between smoking and socioeconomic status are mixed. While adolescent smoking is reduced in many countries, use of smokeless tobacco seems to increase. Associations between socioeducational status and smoking as well as use of snus (smokeless tobacco), and to what extent these associations had changed significantly from 2004 to 2007 (a period of relatively abrupt changes in tobacco use in Norway), were examined. METHODS: Data from two national representative cross-sectional studies of Norwegian 16-20 year olds, where participants were asked questions allowing us to construct indicators of socioeducational status, was used. Information was also collected about the adolescents' smoking and use of snus, as well as their intentions with regard to future use of these products. RESULTS: Adolescents with a lower socioeducational status had much higher odds for smoking compared to those with higher socioeducational status (ORs ranged from 2.9 to 3.8). There was no similar association between socioeducational status and snus use (ORs ranged from 0.6 to 1.2). No support was found for a change in the socioeducational status-smoking/snus use association from 2004 to 2007. CONCLUSIONS: Adolescents' socioeducational status was associated with smoking for boys and girls, while there was no similar association with snus use. This may indicate that snus truly deviates from how smoking is distributed across social strata or that snus is at a much earlier stage in the social diffusion process.

Bar and restaurant workers' attitudes towards Norway's comprehensive smoking ban: a growth curve analysis.

BACKGROUND: Norway passed legislation banning smoking in restaurants, bars and other public spaces in 2004. This study tracks changes in hospitality workers' attitudes towards Norway's ban over three time points, using growth modelling analysis to examine predictors of attitude change. METHODS: Participants were a national sample of 1525 bar and restaurant workers. Surveys were conducted, by phone or internet, one month before the ban's implementation and at 4 and 12 months thereafter. Exploratory principal components analysis of nine survey items revealed one primary attitude component. A latent growth model was fitted to the data to examine trajectories of attitude change and individual differences in rate of change. RESULTS: Respondents supported the ban before implementation and increased support at 4 months (p=0.021) and again at 12 months (p=0.001). Concern for one's job followed a quadratic trend, increasing at 4 months and decreasing at 12 months (p<0.001). All demographic categories were associated with attitude increase; rate of increase was greater for females than males. Two within-person variables--change in smoking status and change in job concern--strongly predicted (p<0.001) respondents' deviations from their predicted group trajectories, explaining over 70% of residual between-person slope variance. CONCLUSIONS: Norway's hospitality workers increased their support of the ban over its first year. The strong influence of the within-person variables leads to two primary policy recommendations. First, support should be provided to assist cessation efforts and prevent relapse. Second, informational campaigns should inform hospitality workers about evidence that smoking bans are not economic threats to the industry.

How do Employees Adapt to Organizational Change? The Role of Meaning-making and Work Engagement.

This multi-wave, multi-source study focuses on the benefits of work engagement for employee adaptation to organizational change. The change entailed the implementation of a flexible office design in an engineering firm, which caused radical change for employees. Building on conservation of resources (COR) theory and change transition models, we predict that work engagement trajectories during change are crucial for successful adaptation. The hypothesized process was that initial employee meaning-making will facilitate work engagement, which, in turn, predicts supervisor-rated adaptive performance (i.e. adaptive work-role performance and extra-role performance) via attitude-to-change. Attitude-to-change was modeled as reciprocally related to work engagement at different points in time. Weekly questionnaires were completed by 71 employees during the first five weeks of the change (296 observations). Latent growth trajectories using weekly engagement measures showed no overall growth, but did show significant variance around the slope of work engagement. Meaning-making and attitude-to-change at the onset were positively related to initial levels, but not to growth of work engagement. Meaning-making was indirectly related to short-term attitude-to-change via work engagement. Short-term attitude-to-change was predictive of supervisor-rated adaptive performance and long-term attitude-to-change. Finally, work engagement (slope) predicted long-term attitude-to-change and supervisor-rated extra-role performance via short-term attitude-to-change. Taken together, the study contributes to knowledge about micro-level transition processes of employee adaptation and the benefits of work engagement during change.

Organizational Prevention and Management Strategies for Workplace Aggression Among Child Protection Workers: A Project Protocol for the Oslo Workplace Aggression Survey (OWAS).

BACKGROUND: Previous research has established exposure to workplace aggression as a significant risk factor for employee functioning, well-being, and health. However, less is known about effective prevention and management strategies. The main objectives of the current project were to determine the impact of physical and psychological aggression on the well-being, health, and work ability of employees in the child welfare service and to establish whether a strong psychosocial safety climate and an ethical infrastructure are effective with regard to protecting employees against aggression. This project may help identify the specific risks child welfare workers are exposed to, the impact of workplace aggression on their health and well-being, and the most effective strategies to manage the problem. Furthermore, the findings should be central for developing laws and regulations and to any political decision on measures to tackle aggression in the workplace. METHODS: The study will employ two prospective data collections. Firstly, a three-wave longitudinal survey with a 6-month time lag between measurement points will be conducted among all 1,500 employees in the child welfare services in Oslo Municipality, Norway. Data will have a multilevel structure and will be linked to registry data on sickness absence. Secondly, a quantitative daily diary study over a 14-day period will include 150 of the respondents from the main survey study. The survey questionnaires mainly comprise well-established and psychometrically validated indicators of workplace aggression, health and well-being, psychosocial safety climate, ethical infrastructure, and other relevant factors. The Regional Committees for Medical and Health Research Ethics (REC) in Norway (REC South East) have approved this project (project no. 28496). DISCUSSION: This project will identify the impact of workplace aggression on child protection workers as well as provide information on how organizations can actively manage exposure to workplace aggression. The findings may serve as a starting point for intervention studies as well as the development of policies and guidelines on how to handle workplace aggression.

Outcomes of a Proximal Workplace Intervention Against Workplace Bullying and Harassment: A Protocol for a Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial Among Norwegian Industrial Workers.

Background: Workplace bullying is an important and prevalent risk factors for health impairment, reduced workability and lowered efficiency among both targets and observers. Development and tests of effective organizational intervention strategies are therefore highly important. The present study describes the background, design, and protocol of a cluster randomized controlled trial evaluating the effectiveness of an organization-wide intervention on preventing workplace bullying with a focus on promoting active and constructive bystander behavior. The main overarching goal is to develop an easy to use and standardized organizational intervention based on theory and research in the role of bystanders in bullying situations with the potential of reducing the prevalence of workplace bullying. The theoretical framework of the study is theory of planned behavior (TPB; Ajzen, 1991).Methods/Design: Using a full randomized control trial (RCT) design, this project will empirically test the outcomes of an intervention program targeting bullying and harassment as the main distal outcomes and perceived behavioral control and helping behavior among bystanders as the main proximal outcome. A 1-year cluster randomized controlled design will be utilized, in which controls will also receive the intervention. About 1,500 workers from two different locations of a Norwegian industrial company will be randomized into one intervention group and two control groups with at least 400 workers in each group. A survey will be conducted electronically. With a total of three assessments over 10­12 months, the time interval between the measurement times will be 4 months. Thus, the data collection will take place at baseline, completion of the intervention and at 4 months follow-up.Discussion: This study primarily aims to develop, implement, and evaluate an intervention based on the abovementioned features with the ultimate aim of reducing the prevalence of workplace bullying, by awareness raising and training of bystanders. Manager involvement and involvement of the union representative and the elected health and safety representatives is an important feature of the program. Results of the intervention study will provide important information regarding the effectiveness of preventive interventions against workplace bullying when focusing on bystanders, particularly so regarding the role of bystander awareness, bystander self-efficacy, and bystander behavioral control on the one hand and the prevalence of bullying and harassment on the other.