TY - JOUR

T1 - Are changes in workplace bullying status related to changes in salivary cortisol?

T2 - A longitudinal study among Danish employees

AU - Gullander, Maria

AU - Grynderup, Matias

AU - Hansen, Åse Marie

AU - Høgh (Hogh), Annie

AU - Persson, Roger

AU - Kolstad, Henrik Albert

AU - Mors, Ole

AU - Kaerlev, Linda

AU - Bonde, Jens Peter

N1 - Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

PY - 2015/11

Y1 - 2015/11

N2 - OBJECTIVES: This study aims to investigate whether incident workplace bullying and its dicontinuance is related to subsequent change in morning and evening saliva cortisol concentrations.METHODS: Participants came from two Danish cohort studies, the PRISME cohort (n=4489) and the Workplace Bullying and Harassment Cohort (n=3707). At baseline and follow-up exposure to bullying was measured by a single question on bullying (preceded by a definition). Two saliva samples to measure cortisol were collected during a work-day (30min after awakening and at 8p.m.). All participants responding to the item on workplace bullying, giving saliva samples and participated at both baseline and follow-up were included. The reference group consisted of non-bullied respondents at both baseline and follow-up. Multilevel mixed-effects linear regressions were used to test for changes in salivary cortisol after newly onset of and discontinuance of workplace bullying. All analyses were adjusted for the potentially confounding effect of differences from baseline to follow-up in education, smoking, alcohol consumption, body mass index, cohort, sampling waves, time of awakening, and time of sampling.RESULTS: We found no indication of statistically significant difference in saliva cortisol, neither when participants changed their self-labelling from not bullied at baseline to being bullied at follow-up, nor when they at follow-up two years later reported discontinuance of bullying.CONCLUSION: This longitudinal study on the impact of changes in bullying status on change in cortisol levels showed consistent lack of associations with onset and discontinuance of workplace bullying.

AB - OBJECTIVES: This study aims to investigate whether incident workplace bullying and its dicontinuance is related to subsequent change in morning and evening saliva cortisol concentrations.METHODS: Participants came from two Danish cohort studies, the PRISME cohort (n=4489) and the Workplace Bullying and Harassment Cohort (n=3707). At baseline and follow-up exposure to bullying was measured by a single question on bullying (preceded by a definition). Two saliva samples to measure cortisol were collected during a work-day (30min after awakening and at 8p.m.). All participants responding to the item on workplace bullying, giving saliva samples and participated at both baseline and follow-up were included. The reference group consisted of non-bullied respondents at both baseline and follow-up. Multilevel mixed-effects linear regressions were used to test for changes in salivary cortisol after newly onset of and discontinuance of workplace bullying. All analyses were adjusted for the potentially confounding effect of differences from baseline to follow-up in education, smoking, alcohol consumption, body mass index, cohort, sampling waves, time of awakening, and time of sampling.RESULTS: We found no indication of statistically significant difference in saliva cortisol, neither when participants changed their self-labelling from not bullied at baseline to being bullied at follow-up, nor when they at follow-up two years later reported discontinuance of bullying.CONCLUSION: This longitudinal study on the impact of changes in bullying status on change in cortisol levels showed consistent lack of associations with onset and discontinuance of workplace bullying.

U2 - 10.1016/j.jpsychores.2015.10.001

DO - 10.1016/j.jpsychores.2015.10.001

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 26526320

VL - 79

SP - 435

EP - 442

JO - Journal of Psychosomatic Research

JF - Journal of Psychosomatic Research

SN - 0022-3999

IS - 5

ER -