Sexual harassment, bullying, burnout and organisational support during the COVID-19 pandemic in Swedish medical faculty–a survey study

Abstract

This study investigated the prevalence of bullying and sexual harassment in Swedish medical faculty during the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, associations between these factors and burnout were investigated as well as the buffering role of social support from colleagues and managers. The study demonstrated that women tended to report more frequent bullying. Moreover, respondents who were more frequently exposed to bullying and sexual harassment reported higher levels of burnout. Those perceiving higher levels of collegial and manager support reported less frequent bullying exposure. A significant interaction effect of manager support on the relationship between bullying and burnout was observed. The current study confirmed that manager support buffered the effect of bullying on employee burnout in cases when bullying was infrequent, while there was no evidence of the mitigating role of collegial support. Therefore, employers need to establish early preventive measures against bullying to protect employees from future burnout.