Discrimination and Harassment – Work, Stress, and Health

Age Discrimination at Work: National Survey Data on Prevalence and Associations with Health and Well-Being, 2002-2018

November 13, 2021November 12, 2021

As the workforce ages, interest has grown regarding the prevalence and possible impact of age discrimination at work. This study presents an analysis of data from a national survey in the United States in which worker-reported age discrimination was measured over a 16-year period. Findings indicated that the prevalence of workplace age discrimination remained fairly stable during this period, and that the experience of age discrimination was a significant predictor of several quality of work life measures.

Paradoxical Outcomes of Workplace Mistreatment: A Review

November 13, 2021November 12, 2021

The workplace mistreatment literature commonly finds evidence of an array of negative individual and organizational outcomes due to mistreatment incidents (Schilpzand et al., 2016). However, the literature fails to prominently address the occasions in which certain forms of workplace mistreatment may be paradoxically beneficial to the target employee or organization. This poster presents a qualitative review of the workplace mistreatment literature, focused on summarizing findings from empirical studies that either indicate the processes through which workplace mistreatment leads to paradoxically positive outcomes or the circumstances under which they occur. This review highlights this gap in the literature by directly examining which individual, organizational, and other environmental factors qualify the relationships between workplace mistreatment and desirable outcomes.

Association of perceived discrimination at work and depressive symptoms among correctional employees: Assessing the moderating role of sex, race/ethnicity, and job tenure

November 13, 2021November 12, 2021

This study uses past participatory data in order to investigate how the mental health, and specifically depressive symptoms, of corrections workers is impacted by perceived workplace discrimination (PWD) from peers, superiors, and inmates. Due to the changing sociodemographic makeup of the corrections workforce and its paramilitary structure, this project will then discuss how belonging to a minority group within the field of corrections (ie. women and people of color) or being less tenured on the job moderates the relationship between PWD and depressive symptoms. This study found a significant positive association between PWD and depressive symptoms and that for those who had less job tenure, there was a stronger relationship between PWD and depressive symptoms. As diversity continues to increase in corrections, these findings can be used to develop interventions to reduce mental health disparities experienced by this population and illustrates a need for more programs that target less tenured employees.

Long-term effects of workplace harassment on mental health and alcohol use

November 13, 2021November 12, 2021

Individuals were surveyed about their exposure to workplace sexual and generalized harassment, symptoms of anxiety and depression, and alcohol use/misuse at 8 timepoints between 1996-2007 (W1-W8) and were resurveyed in 2020 (W9). Bivariate analyses indicate that those who were exposed to chronic sexual or generalized harassment at W1-W8 reported significantly greater symptoms of depression and anxiety and past 30 day measures of heavy alcohol use. These results suggest that workplace harassment can have long-term health implications for targets, and that enforcement of existing laws that prohibit sexual harassment and enactment of similar laws to protect workers against workplace bullying could help to protect long-term health of workers.

Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Teleworking During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Mediation Analysis

November 13, 2021November 12, 2021

This study examines the impact of race and ethnicity on the incidence of teleworking and examine to what extent this impact is mediated by education and occupation. Quantifying the relative role of mediators in explaining racial and ethnic teleworking disparities would help inform intervention efforts and best practices.