The Relationship between Patients’ Demands and Workplace Violence among Healthcare Workers: A Multilevel Look Focusing on the Moderating Role of Psychosocial Working Conditions

Cristian Balducci (), Chiara Rafanelli, Luca Menghini and Chiara Consiglio ()
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Cristian Balducci: Department of Quality of Life Sciences, University of Bologna, 47921 Rimini, Italy
Chiara Rafanelli: Department of Psychology “Renzo Canestrari”, University of Bologna, 40127 Bologna, Italy
Luca Menghini: Department of General Psychology, University of Padova, 35131 Padova, Italy
Chiara Consiglio: Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy

IJERPH, 2024, vol. 21, issue 2, 1-13

Abstract: Workplace violence against healthcare workers is a widespread phenomenon with very severe consequences for the individuals affected and their organizations. The role played by psychosocial working conditions in healthcare workers’ experiences of violence from patients and their family members has received relatively scant attention. In the present study, we investigated the idea that psychosocial working conditions (workload, job control, supervisor support, and team integration), by affecting the well-being and job performance of healthcare workers, play a critical role in the relationship between patients’ demands and the escalation of workplace violence. Specifically, we tested the hypothesis that psychosocial working conditions moderate the relationship between patients’ demands and workplace violence. Participants were 681 healthcare workers distributed in 55 work groups of three public healthcare facilities in Italy. Multilevel analysis showed significant interactions between patients’ demands and each of the investigated psychosocial factors on workplace violence, which in all the cases were in the expected direction. The results suggest that improving the quality of the psychosocial work environment in which healthcare workers operate may be a critical aspect in the prevention of workplace violence.

Keywords: workplace violence; patients’ demands; psychosocial working conditions; workload; job control; supervisor support (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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