Department of Psychology, University of Copenhagen, Øster Farimagsgade, Copenhagen K, Denmark.
Department of Public Health, University of Copenhagen, Øster Farimagsgade, Copenhagen K, Denmark.
Ann Work Expo Health. 2018 Mar 12;62(3):281-294. doi: 10.1093/annweh/wxx105.
The behavioural experience method has been extensively used in the literature for the measurement of potential bullying behaviours at work. However, this approach presents limitations when used to classify respondents as targets or non-targets of workplace bullying. Therefore, the present study aimed to: (i) identify optimal cut-off points, reflecting a possible subjectively experienced exposure to occasional and frequent workplace bullying, for the 9-item Short Negative Act Questionnaire (S-NAQ), and (ii) examine the criterion validity of these cut-off points in relation to depressive symptoms and diagnosis of depression.
The study was based on a sample of 4882 participants from the Danish MODENA cohort study (year 2011), which included both the S-NAQ (score range 9-45) and a one-item measure applying the self-labelling method with a definition to assess occasional and frequent workplace bullying. We employed receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analyses to derive the cut-off points for the S-NAQ. Based on these cut-off points, we created a new S-NAQ variable with three levels of exposure (i.e. 'not exposed', 'first threshold', and 'second threshold') and tested its criterion validity in relation to depressive symptoms (N = 4071) and diagnosis of depression (N = 4844).
The S-NAQ cut-off points obtained were ≥12 and ≥16 when using occasional and frequent bullying as reference standards, respectively. Both cut-off points showed high classification accuracy (area under the curve = 0.89 and 0.93) as well as good sensitivity (84.8% and 88.0%) and specificity (77.4% and 94.7%). In the adjusted linear regression analyses, both the first (B = 0.78, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.66-0.90) and the second threshold of exposure (B = 1.65, 95% CI = 1.44-1.86) were significantly associated with depressive symptoms. In the adjusted logistic regression analyses, both the first (odds ratio [OR] = 3.55, 95% CI = 1.98-6.38) and the second threshold of exposure (OR = 5.90, 95% CI = 2.93-11.88) were significantly associated with diagnosis of depression.
The two cut-off points for the S-NAQ identified in this study showed a significant association with both depressive symptoms and diagnosis of depression. However, future prospective studies are needed to establish the predictive validity of the proposed cut-off points.
行为体验法在文献中被广泛用于测量工作场所中潜在的欺凌行为。然而，当用于将受访者分类为工作场所欺凌的目标或非目标时，这种方法存在局限性。因此，本研究旨在：（i）为 9 项短期负面行为问卷（S-NAQ）确定最佳的截断点，反映可能经历的偶尔和频繁的工作场所欺凌，（ii）检验这些截断点与抑郁症状和抑郁症诊断之间的标准效度。
该研究基于丹麦 MODENA 队列研究（2011 年）的 4882 名参与者的样本，该研究包括 S-NAQ（得分范围为 9-45）和一项应用自我标记法的单项措施，该措施定义用于评估偶尔和频繁的工作场所欺凌。我们采用接收者操作特征（ROC）曲线分析来确定 S-NAQ 的截断点。基于这些截断点，我们创建了一个新的 S-NAQ 变量，有三个暴露水平（即“未暴露”、“第一个阈值”和“第二个阈值”），并测试了其与抑郁症状（N=4071）和抑郁症诊断（N=4844）之间的标准效度。
当偶尔和频繁的欺凌作为参考标准时，S-NAQ 的截断点分别为≥12 和≥16。两个截断点都表现出较高的分类准确性（曲线下面积为 0.89 和 0.93）和良好的敏感性（84.8%和 88.0%）和特异性（77.4%和 94.7%）。在调整后的线性回归分析中，第一次（B=0.78，95%置信区间[CI]：0.66-0.90）和第二次暴露阈值（B=1.65，95%CI：1.44-1.86）均与抑郁症状显著相关。在调整后的逻辑回归分析中，第一次（比值比[OR]=3.55，95%CI：1.98-6.38）和第二次暴露阈值（OR=5.90，95%CI：2.93-11.88）均与抑郁症诊断显著相关。
本研究确定的 S-NAQ 的两个截断点与抑郁症状和抑郁症诊断均有显著关联。然而，需要进一步的前瞻性研究来确定所提出的截断点的预测效度。
