Negative Acts at Work as Potential Bullying Behavior and Depression: Examining the Direction of the Association in a 2-Year Follow-Up Study

OBJECTIVE: This study investigates the 2-year prospective association between exposure to negative acts at work and depression.

METHODS: A questionnaire study was carried out among 3363 employees and followed up 2 years later. Negative acts as potential bullying behavior were assessed by the Revised Negative Acts Questionnaire and depression by The Major Depression Inventory or Schedule for Clinical Assessment in Neuropsychiatry interviews. Logistic regression analyses tested potential associations between depression and negative acts.

RESULTS: Exposure to negative acts was associated with depression 2 years later; however, when adjusting for Sense of Coherence and depressive symptoms at baseline the association was no longer significant. Conversely, depression at baseline predicted self-reported exposure to negative acts at follow-up.

CONCLUSIONS: Depression predicts exposure to negative acts at a 2-year follow-up, whereas negative acts do not predict depression after adjustment for Sense of Coherence and baseline depressive symptoms.