Bullying at the workplace has been shown to negatively impact employees’ mental health. Advancements in communication technology have opened the floodgates for workplace bullying to proliferate and...Show moreBullying at the workplace has been shown to negatively impact employees’ mental health. Advancements in communication technology have opened the floodgates for workplace bullying to proliferate and continue online, which is referred to as cyberbullying. A consolidation of knowledge and research findings would aid in better understanding the impact of workplace cyberbullying on mental health. Thusly, a systematic review and meta-analysis were performed on cross-sectional data retrieved from PubMed and Web of Science in January 2023. Pooled analyses showed that both traditional workplace bullying (r = .405, 95% CI = .375 - .435, k = 148, n = 206974) and workplace cyberbullying (r = .266, 95% CI = .215 - .317, k = 10, n = 8870) are associated with mental health declines. Yet, the effect of traditional bullying was somewhat stronger (p = .013). Although significant associations were found, the effects appear to be weak to moderate. The small difference between traditional and cyber workplace bullying might be better explained by the general effects of online interactions displacing traditional face-to-face communication thereby possibly differentiating from the working mechanism of traditional bullying. A major limitation is the use of self-report questionnaires for bullying and mental health outcomes, resulting in possible reporting bias. Future research might benefit from using one universal and standardized questionnaire to assess workplace bullying experience. These findings emphasize the need for corporations to focus on the prevention of workplace bullying to safeguard employees’ mental wellbeing and promote a healthier and more productive work environment.Show less
Bullying is a phenomenon that is widespread in schools and workplace but is also occurring online in the form of cyberbullying. Previous studies have indicated that bullying is negatively related...Show moreBullying is a phenomenon that is widespread in schools and workplace but is also occurring online in the form of cyberbullying. Previous studies have indicated that bullying is negatively related to social support and self-esteem. Social support and self-esteem thus constitute protective factors in the relation to bullying. Further, it was expected that bullying will be positively related to the negative mental health outcomes loneliness, depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation. To investigate the relations between bullying and social support, self-esteem, loneliness, depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation the present study used the network approach to integrate all the variables and visualize their relations. The data was taken from the WARN-D project, where 453 participants aged between 18 and 53 (M = 22.7, SD = 4) filled out questionnaires about various mental health aspects including the seven variables used in the present study. Results show that the hypothesized positive relationships between bullying and mental health outcomes are present in the network. The same holds for the negative relationships between bullying and the protective factors. In conclusion, the present study provides an important framework for theory development and further use of the network approach in the field of bullying.Show less
About 16% of children is a victim of bullying and a part of these children remain being a victim of bullying after anti-bullying interventions. Parenting style appears to be a possible cause of...Show moreAbout 16% of children is a victim of bullying and a part of these children remain being a victim of bullying after anti-bullying interventions. Parenting style appears to be a possible cause of being a victim of bullying. However, little research is done on the relationship between parenting style and being a victim of bullying. Furthermore, social-emotional functioning appears to be related to both. In this research the extent social-emotional functioning is a mediator for the relationship between parenting style and being a victim of bulling is tested. These variables were measured using parenting and self-report questionnaires among 75 participants of 9 to 12 years of age. The mediation-analyses indicated the possibility of social-emotional functioning being a suppressor for the relationship between parenting style and being a victim of bullying. This indicates that the relationship between parenting style and being a victim of bullying is greater when social-emotional functioning is added in the regression equation. Further research can focus on confirming the suppression effect. By researching this relationship, interventions like social skills training can be deployed early on for children with parents who maintain an unfavourable parenting style. By implementing interventions, being a chronic victim of bullying and additional problems like internalisation can possibly be treated or prevented.Show less
