Objectives: The objective of the study has been to assess the associations between psychological distress and exposure to workplace bullying, taking into account possible influence of adverse psychosocial job characteristics and occupational burnout in a sample of Kaunas (Lithuania) teachers. Material and Methods: The study sample included 517 teachers from 13 secondary schools and was conducted in 2014. The participants filled in the anonymous questionnaire (response rate 71.3%). Twenty-two-item Negative Acts Questionnaire (H. Hoel and S. Einarsen) was used for measuring the exposure to workplace bullying, Goldberg 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) -psychological distress, Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) -occupational burnout, Karasek Demand-Control questionnaire -psychosocial job stressors. The IBM SPSS Statistics version 20.0 was used for performing the statistical analysis. Associations between psychological distress, exposure to workplace bullying, psychosocial job characteristics and occupational burnout were analyzed in the logistic regression and expressed in terms of odds ratios (OR). Statistical significance was determined using the 95% confidence interval (CI) level. Results: Workplace bullying was prevalent among Kaunas teachers (occasional -8.3%, severe -2.9%). Twenty-five percent of teachers suffered from psychological distress. High emotional exhaustion was found in 25.6% of them, high depersonalization in 10.6% and low personal achievement in 33.7% of cases. Almost a half of respondents (47.4%) reported job strain and 59.6% -low social support at work. Occasional and severe bullying was associated with psychological distress after adjusting to job strain, social support and emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, personal accomplishment (adjusted OR was 3.27, 95% CI: 1.56-6.84 for occasional and 4.98, 95% CI: 1.27-19.62 for severe bullying). Conclusions: Occasional and severe bullying were strong predictors for psychological distress. Burnout did not mediate those associations. The effect of job strain and low social support decreased to the insignificant level in the final model. Preventive measures are necessary to improve psychosocial working conditions in secondary education institutions. Int J Occup Med Environ Health 2017;30(4):629-640

Background.The Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R) is often used as a self-report instrument for symptoms of post-traumatic stress (PTS). The objective of this study was to explore the reliability and validity of the Lithuanian IES-R in a sample of employees with exposure to workplace bullying in different occupations.Materials and methods.The original IES-R was translated into Lithuanian, and the comparability of content was verified through back-translation procedures. 294 employees with exposure to workplace bullying (52 teachers from the secondary schools of Kaunas, 56 family physicians, 101 nurses of internal medicine departments, 40 waiters, and 45 seafarers) were administered the Lithuanian IES-R and the General Health Questionnaire – 12 (GHQ-12) in order to verify some aspects of convergent validity. The exploratory factor analysis was used to verify the construct validity of the IES-R.Results.The reliability of the Lithuanian version of the IES-R was verified. Cronbach’s α of the total scale was 0.95. Exploratory factor analysis showed a clear factor structure with three independent dimensions: intrusion, avoidance and hyperarousal. Cronbach’s α for subscales of intrusion, avoidance and hyperarousal were 0.89, 0.85, and 0.88, respectively. The convergent validity was supported by positive correlations between the subscales (intrusion, avoidance, hyperarousal) and the GHQ-12.Conclusions.The results suggest that the self-reported Lithuanian IES-R is a valid instrument for assessing the dimensions of post-traumatic stress, has good psychometric properties, and may be applied in prolonged trauma-exposed populations.

Background: Investigations on workplace bullying in the countries of Eastern Europe are yet not too extensive. The aim of the study has been to identify the most frequent bullying behavior and to explore the associations with psychological distress and post-traumatic stress symptoms in 3 female-dominated occupations in Kaunas, Lithuania. Material and Methods: This crosssectional study employed 517 teachers (response rate (RR) = 71.3%), 174 family physicians (RR = 65.7%) and 311 internal medicine department nurses (RR = 69.1%). The twenty-two-item Negative Acts Questionnaire was used for measuring the exposure to bullying behavior, Goldberg 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) -psychological distress, Event Scale-Revised (IES-R) inventory -post-traumatic stress symptoms, Karasek & Theorell Demand-Control questionnaire -psychosocial job characteristics. The International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) SPSS Statistics version 20.0 was used for performing the statistical analysis. Logistic regression was used for assessing the associations among 22 negative acts as continuous variable and mental health outcomes adjusting to age, psychosocial factors at work and everyday life. Results: Exposure to workplace bullying behavior on a weekly/daily basis was prevalent among family physicians at the rate of 19%, among nurses -12.9%, among teachers -4.1%. Even after adjustment to age, psychosocial job characteristics and threatening life events, the exposure to 22 negative acts as continuous variable was significantly associated with psychological distress and post-traumatic stress symptoms for all 3 occupations. Conclusions: Health care sector is particularly affected by workplace bullying. Exposure to bullying behavior was associated with mental health problems for all 3 occupations. Preventive measures are necessary to improve psychosocial work environment conditions in healthcare and educational institutions in Lithuania. Med Pr 2017;68(3):307-314

Objectives Exposure to particulate matter in urban air is a recognised risk factor for cardiovascular disease, but little is known about possible effects from exposure to the high levels of metalrich particles prevailing in underground subway systems. This led us to investigate heart rate variability (HRV) in occupationally exposed subway drivers. Method 29 train drivers (18 men and 11 women) in the Stockholm subway were investigated from November 2004 to March 2005. All were non-smokers in ages 25-50. Personal particle exposure levels were obtained in an occupational hygienic investigation (mean PM 2.5 19 mg/m 3 , DataRAM 33 mg/m 3 ). We registered continuous ECG over 24 h. The HRV measures obtained were LF, HF, LF/HF, HR and SDNN. The arithmetic mean (based on 5-minutes intervals) in the group was calculated for each measure and exposure situation, as well as the mean in group of the individual quotients between the exposure situations. One-sample t-tests were used to analyse whether the quotients differed from one. Results The mean quotients between working in tunnel and working outside tunnel were significantly above one for LF (p = 0.04) and significantly below one for HR (p = 0.03) and SDNN (p = 0.00). The quotients between total working-hours and leisure-hours were significantly above one for HR (p = 0.03) and significantly below one for SDNN (p = 0.00). Conclusions Overall, our results do not indicate any clinically significant effects on the cardiac autonomic function, as measured by HRV, for particle exposed subway drivers in Stockholm, even though there were some indications of a decrease in SDNN. Objectives The study investigated the associations between workplace bullying and posttraumatic stress symptoms as compared to and controlled for associations between the latter and other psychosocial stress factors at work and in everyday life, employing a representative sample of Lithuanian family physicians. Method With a response rate 89.2%, a total of 323 family physicians filled in anonymous questionnaire on workplace bullying, post traumatic symptomatology (IES-R), other psychosocial stressors at work and in everyday life, personal health resources (sense of coherence), behavioural characteristics and demographic variables. The statistical software SPSS 14.0 for Windows was used in the analysis. Associations were tested by way of multivariate logistic regression analysis. 0392 WORKPLACE BULLYING AND POSTTRAUMATIC STRESS SYMPTOMS AMONG FAMILY PHYSICIANS IN LITHUANIAVilijaResults A high prevalence of bullying was found among the family physicians in Lithuania, with 13% experiencing severe workplace bullying and 17.3% more occasional incidents of bullying. The prevalence of posttraumatic stress symptoms was also high (15.8%). The Odds ratio (OR) of severe bullying for posttraumatic stress after adjustment for age and gender was 8.05, 95% confidence interval (CI) 3.80-17.04. In the fully adjusted model it increased to 13.88, 95% CI 4.68-41.13, indicating cumulative effects of all the investigated stressor...

IntroductionIt is well established that physical inactivity is associated with poor mental health, though there is lack of the investigations concerning the associations of physical inactivity and psychological distress in human directed occupations in relation to psychosocial factors at work and everyday life. The objective of the present study was to assess the associations between physical inactivity and psychological distress among family physicians, community nurses and secondary school teachers taking into account the possible influence of psychosocial factors at work and everyday life.MethodsThe representative samples of the Lithuanian family physicians (n = 323), community nurses (N = 748) and secondary school teachers (N = 517) were investigated. The anonymous questionnaire contained the information on workplace bullying (NAQ-22), Karasek and Theorell Job content Questionnaire, Godin Leisure time physical activity Questionnaire, Goldberg General health Questionnaire (GHQ-12). A set of questions were addressed about threatening life events during the last year. SPSS 22.0 for Windows used in data analysis. Logistic regression analysis was performed.ResultsAfter adjustment for age, workplace bullying, job demands, job control, social support at work, threatening life events, alcohol and smoking, OR of physical inactivity for psychological distress among family physicians was 4.04; 95% CI: 1.70–9.42, among community nurses 1.84; 95% CI: 1.19–2.82, among teachers 3.60; 95% CI: 1.48–8.76.ConclusionsPhysical inactivity is an independent risk factor for poor mental health in health and educational occupations in relation to psychosocial factors at work and everyday life. The preventive programs directed towards the improvement of physical activity levels should be applied in those female dominated occupations for health promotion purposes.