Dangers on the road: A longitudinal examination of passenger‐initiated violence against bus drivers

Abstract

This study examined the impact of workplace violence against 109 bus drivers over a 1-year span. Workplace violence is related to both psychological and work-related consequences. Our findings showed that bus drivers experienced a wide range of violence at work and the psychological consequences were devastating: Half of the participants met the diagnostic criteria for acute stress disorder within the first month following the index event. Majority of them experienced at least moderate levels of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) problems over the 1-year span. About 9.3% of participants showed a delayed onset of PTSD 6 months after. Furthermore, counter-supportive behaviours and reexposure to violence played important roles in the maintenance of PTSD symptoms over time. Even though PTSD symptoms per se did not relate to bus driver's confidence in coping with aggressive passengers, the immediate post-traumatic reaction-symptoms of acute stress disorder-showed a significant long-term negative effect on bus drivers' confidence in dealing with aggressive passengers 12 months after. This study provided empirical evidence of the changing nature of PTSD symptoms over time among bus drivers.

<p>Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Associated Factors Among Drivers Surviving Road Traffic Crashes in Southwest Ethiopia</p>

“…The prevalence of PTSD was found to be 12.6% (95% CI 9.5%-16.1%) among drivers surviving RTCs. The findings of this study are in line with one done in Canada among bus drivers (14.3%), 27 and also agree with a studies conducted among RTC survivors attending orthopedic and trauma clinics in Kenya (13.3%) 28 and Cape Town (12.2%). 29 However, the proportion in this study was lower than others among a group of Iranian commercial motor-vehicle drivers (19.2%), 14 survivors of RTCs in public hospitals in Addis Ababa (22.8%), 18 and Nigerians (26.7%).…”

Workplace Bullying: a Study on Urban Collective Transportation

“…One possible explanation for not identifying the difference between ELAM scores as a function of sex is the small number of women participating in the survey when compared to the total number of male subjects. Another explanation is that a traditionally male organizational culture could encourage women not to complain about threats and aggressions (Zhou et al 2018).…”

“…WB and aggressive behavior are frequent among collective transportation workers (Glasø, Bele, Nielsen and Einarsen 2011; Kornig, Chanut-Guieu, Domette, Louit-Martinod and Méhaut 2017; Lincoln and Gregory 2015; Zhou, Boyer and Guay 2018), being characterized by aggressions against mental and/or physical health. The safety and wellbeing of these workers are interconnected with the safety and wellbeing of passengers and other road users (Glasø et al 2011;Silveira, Abreu and Santos 2014;Zhou et al 2018).…”

“…These consider especially drivers, as the profession of ticket collector does not exist in all countries. Zhou et al (2018) investigated the impact of workplace violence against Canadian bus drivers; Geoffrion et al (2017) compared the prevalence of types of workplace violence in the public transport, health, and policing sectors; Lincoln and Gregory (2015) undertook a multimethod study that showed that Australian bus drivers were exposed to various types of workplace violence; Kornig et al (2017) sought to analyze some psychosocial risks, particularly the experiences of workplace violence urban transportation drivers in France were exposed to. The research by Glasø et al (2011), specifically on WB, examined the exposure of Norwegian bus drivers to this type of violence and related it to engagement and job satisfaction, turnover intentions, and personality traits.…”

Occupational Violence and PTSD-Symptoms

“…Prospective studies show that exposure to OV increases risk of PTSD [18][19][20] . Further, extant literature has indicated that the frequency of OV might be a predictor of general mental health problems also, PTSD [21][22][23] .…”