Workplace Violence Against Youth: Characteristics and Consequences

Details

• Personal Author:
  Rauscher, Kimberly
• Description:
  Workers under the age of 25 are at risk for workplace violence (US Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2014a, 2014b). This includes bullying, verbal abuse, sexual harassment, threats, physical attacks and even homicide. Given their predominant employment in the high-risk retail and service industries, their lack of violence prevention training and the fact that they may be uniquely affected by workplace violence due to their ongoing physical and psychological development, young workers are a vulnerable population when it comes to workplace violence. Despite this, little research attention has been directed at this group of workers. To help fill this gap, we conducted a national study of workplace violence among youth ages 14-24. The main objective of which was to improve our understanding of young workers' experiences with workplace violence and to learn how these experiences negatively affect their mental health, work life and school life. We collected data from 1,017 workers ages 14 to 24 across the US, via telephone interview. Data collection occurred between July 2017 and January 2019. Respondents were asked about their experiences with workplace violence in the 12 months prior to the day of their interview. Eligible participants had to have held a formal civilian job in which they earned a paycheck in the previous 12 months. Babysitting, lawn mowing, and other odd jobs done for cash on an informal basis were not included. For the present analysis, we used descriptive statistics to characterize reports of workplace violence including the forms experienced, the perpetrators, and the consequences suffered as a result. These included various forms of mental distress (e.g., anxiety) as well as negative impacts on their work life (e.g., productivity) and school life (e.g., grades). We collected details of the cases by asking respondents about the last event in which they suffered workplace violence. When a respondent reported experiencing multiple forms of violence, interviewers randomly selected one form and asked the respondent to talk about the last time they experienced that form of violence. Our sample included 491 (48%) 14- to 17-year-olds and 526 (52%) 18- to 24-year olds. Just over 53% were male, 77% were white, and 14% identified as Hispanic/Latino. Approximately 80% were students at the time of the interview, mainly in middle/high school (n = 296) or a 4-year college/graduate school (n = 218). Just over 57% (n = 577) reported experiencing some form of workplace violence at least once in the 12-month study period. The forms experienced were as follows: verbal abuse (50%), sexual harassment (22%); threats (15%); physical attacks (6%) and sexual assaults (5%) (categories are not mutually exclusive). When asked about their last experience with workplace violence, respondents named customers (53%) as the most common perpetrator, followed by co-workers (34%) and supervisors (20%) (not mutually exclusive). The most frequently reported mental health affects resulting from their experience included the following: increased stress (41%), increased anxiety (39%), increased insecurity (26%), decreased self-esteem/confidence (22%), and increased distrust of people (21%). Effects on school life were limited with few respondents reporting seeing their grades drop (5%), skipping classes more often (3%), or showing up late for classes more often (3%) after their experience with workplace violence. Work life effects were more common. After the event, 27% said they cared less about their job, 16% said they stopped trying to do their best work, and 13% said their productivity decreased. Just over 29% quit or considered quitting their job in reaction to the event, while 17% changed their schedule and 14% cut back their hours. Our study finds that workplace violence is common among young people in the United States and that it can have significant impacts on their mental health. Our finding that nearly one-quarter of youth experience sexual harassment or assault at work demonstrates that such issues are not "adult" problems and even girls as young as 14 are at risk - a particularly salient finding in this time of heightened awareness of gender harassment and inequality at work. Because of their vulnerabilities, both internal (e.g., ongoing development) and external (e.g., high-risk jobs), young people are a particularly vulnerable group who deserve more attention when it comes to workplace violence. While our study did not determine long-term effects, there was evidence that workplace violence has numerous immediate negative impacts on the mental well-being of young victims. Further studies should attempt to understand whether these impacts may be prolonged and under what conditions, specifically the severity and type of violence is likely to play a role and should be examined. In the meantime, we should work to raise awareness among youth and their parents, teachers, mentors and doctors of the problem of workplace violence and urge employers to take preventative actions such as instituting a workplace violence prevention program and providing age appropriate training to young workers. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Adolescent Mental Health Nervous System Occupational Health Safety Sex Characteristics Violence Workplace
• Keywords:
  Abuse Adolescents Gender Factors Mental Health Psychological Effects Stress Teenagers Workplace Violence Young Workers
• Publisher:
  American Psychological Association
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Abstract or Summary
• Place as Subject:
  OSHA Region 3 ; Pennsylvania ; West Virginia
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  320-321
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20063740
• Citation:
  Work, Stress and Health 2019, November 6-9, 2019, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association, 2019 Nov; :320-321
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2020
• Performing Organization:
  West Virginia University
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  20150930
• Source Full Name:
  Work, Stress and Health 2019, November 6-9, 2019, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
• End Date:
  20180929
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:0c1c2dfe2e126755a337723368f9e5f78400fb7db9f2fb0a1a363983819eb5bb23d753e91bdf703b47368a83a523ff77319fc8958ba41a4ad583b853124c350b
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/222299/cdc_222299_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 113.03 KB ]