Posttraumatic stress in organizations: Types, antecedents, and consequences

Abstract

Research indicates that the well‐being and productivity of over 100 million people in the global workforce may be compromised by posttraumatic stress (PTS). Given that work‐related experiences are often the source of the trauma that leads to PTS, and that PTS due to any cause can interfere with employees’ job performance, organizations would do well to consider the antecedents and consequences of PTS. This review of research—primarily within fields adjacent to business—on the types, antecedents, consequences, and organizational implications of PTS is presented to advance inquiry within the field of business. The definition of PTS requires attention to the new classification of complex posttraumatic stress disorder that can result from threats that are not life‐threatening such as bullying and sexual harassment. PTS antecedents include organizational and extraorganizational traumas, and risk and resilience factors. Absenteeism, impaired cognitive functioning, strained relationships, and growth are among the consequences of PTS. Organizations can assist through disaster planning, empathetic leaders, mental health literacy initiatives, and employee assistance programs. Many research questions arise that, when answered, will allow organizations to better understand how they can improve employee productivity and well‐being by attending to PTS.

Dealing With COVID-19 Patients: A Moderated Mediation Model of Exposure to Patients' Death and Mental Health of Italian Health Care Workers

“…In order to lessen problems related to spurious relationships, age, sex, working region, tenure, and number of patients who had died from COVID-19 were statistically controlled in hypotheses testing. Recently, Williams and Williams ( 2020 ) suggested that personal and occupational characteristics may represent important risk factors in developing PTS symptoms. Specifically, Williams and Williams ( 2020 ) reported that younger age, being male, and a high job tenure appear to lower workers' risk of developing PTS.…”

“…Recently, Williams and Williams ( 2020 ) suggested that personal and occupational characteristics may represent important risk factors in developing PTS symptoms. Specifically, Williams and Williams ( 2020 ) reported that younger age, being male, and a high job tenure appear to lower workers' risk of developing PTS. Furthermore, many scholars suggested that women appear more likely than men to engage in behavioral expression of emotions, such as crying (Nolen-Hoeksema and Jackson, 2001 ).…”

Traumatic stress sufferers: work as therapy or trigger?

“…Fundamentally, all organizations should give some forethought to events that could be traumatic. In the same way that organizations should plan for disasters – and perhaps as part of the same preparation effort (Williams and Williams, 2020) – they should identify resources for professional care of organization members who become traumatized or who have other mental health care needs. Large organizations with health insurance coverage or employee assistance programs that can assist organization members should strive to make all personnel aware of those resources.…”

“…The model this paper has presented also has many implications for future research. The most significant implications have to do with the risks of errors when cumulating research on ASD, PTSD and cPTSD to draw conclusions about “posttraumatic stress” or “PTS” (Vogel and Bolino, 2019; Williams and Williams, 2020). First, despite their many similarities, certain symptoms are more pronounced in each type of condition.…”

“…The management literature reflects a growing recognition of the importance of traumatic stress. Employees suffering from traumatic stress can have difficulty with attention, memory and interpersonal conflict (Williams and Williams, 2020). Additional trauma-related topics addressed in the literature include leadership and organizational compassion following a terrorist attack (Dutton et al , 2002), organizational resilience when faced with a mass shooting (Powley, 2009), organizational healing and posttraumatic growth (Powley, 2013), challenges associated with career transitions following traumatic injuries (Haynie and Shepherd, 2011) and posttraumatic stress and posttraumatic growth following abusive supervision (Vogel and Bolino, 2019).…”