Self-reported workplace bullying and subsequent risk of diagnosed mental disorders and psychotropic drug prescriptions: A register-based prospective cohort study of 75,252 participants.

BACKGROUND

Evidence concerning workplace bullying as a risk factor for mental disorders is currently limited to depressive disorders and mainly based on non-clinical assessments. This study aims to examine the prospective association of self-reported workplace bullying with different types of register-based hospital-diagnosed mental disorders and redeemed psychotropic drug prescriptions.

METHODS

Using a cohort study design, we examined a pooled dataset of 75,252 participants from 14 questionnaire-based surveys conducted between 2004 and 2014. In the questionnaires, workplace bullying was measured by a single item. The questionnaires were linked to Danish registers on hospital-diagnosed mental disorders and redeemed psychotropic drug prescriptions up to 2016. Data were analysed by multivariate Cox proportional hazard models, including only participants without a history of mental disorders or prescriptions since 1995.

RESULTS

After adjustment for sex, age, marital and socio-economic status, workplace bullying was associated with an excess risk of any mental disorder (HR 1.37; 95 % CI: 1.17-1.59) as well as mood disorders and neurotic, stress-related, and somatoform disorders. In stratified analyses, this association were statistically significant only among women. Workplace bullying was also associated with any psychotropic drug prescription (fully-adjusted HR 1.43; 95 % CI: 1.35-1.53). This association was observed in both sexes and for all prescriptions, including anxiolytics, hypnotics and sedatives, antidepressants, and nootropics.

LIMITATIONS: Firm conclusions about sex-related differences cannot be drawn. Residual confounding by unmeasured factors such as personality cannot be ruled out.

CONCLUSIONS

Workplace bullying was associated with higher risks of diagnosed mental disorders among women and psychotropic drug prescriptions in both sexes.