How does violence impact education workers?: Results from a state-based study

Purpose: Non-fatal physical assaults and non-physical workplace violence (NP-WPV) are common among education workers, yet little is known about how this violence affects them. Here we describe the impact of physical and NP-WPV on quality of life, job stress, and job satisfaction among a cohort of education workers.

Methods: A statewide sample of 6,450 workers was drawn using de-identified membership lists provided by Pennsylvania's education unions. The sample was stratified on gender, occupation, and school location. A cross-sectional survey was mailed to participants during the 2009-2010 school year. Analyses were performed using Proc SURVEY in SAS.

Results: The percentage of those reporting being ‘always' stressed at work increased 23 points for those physically assaulted (8%, 31%, p<0.0001), 20 points for those experiencing NP-WPV (8%, 28%, p<0.0001), and 29 points for those experiencing both (8%, 37%, p<0.0001). The percentage of those with ‘very' high levels of job satisfaction decreased 19 points for those physically assaulted (46%, 27%, p=0.0003), 25 points for those experiencing NP-WPV (46%, 21%, p<0.0001), and 23 points for those experiencing both (46%, 23%, p=0.0003). Physical WPV resulted in a significantly higher mean number of poor physical health, mental health, and activity restricted days (mean=1.9, p<0.0001; 5.0, p<0.0001; 2.8, p<0.0001, respectively). Similar trends were seen for those experiencing NP-WPV (1.8, p<0.0001; 4.0, p<0.0001; 2.0, p<0.0001).

Conclusions: The impact of WPV reaches beyond physical injuries. Those who experienced WPV had significantly lower job satisfaction, higher self-reported health issues, and higher job stress than those who did not experience WPV.