Posttraumatic stress disorder and quality of life in victims of a violent act at work: A longitudinal study.

Abstract

OBJECTIVE\nWith the general aim of better understanding their temporal relationships, trauma-related symptoms and quality of life were investigated among victims of a violent act at work.\n\n\nMETHOD\nWe used path analysis modeling to test the relationship between symptoms and quality of life as interrelated rather than merely sequential in a cohort of 189 individuals exposed to violence at work in the health care and public transit sector.\n\n\nRESULTS\nResults showed a pattern of reciprocal negative association between symptoms and quality of life over time and measurements of quality of life to impact significantly on subsequent perceptions of trauma-related symptoms. No indication of temporal relationship between trauma-related symptoms and subsequent quality of life was found in our study.\n\n\nCONCLUSIONS\nStudy results increase our understanding of the longitudinal associations between trauma-related symptoms and quality of life as consequences of the exposure to workplace violence, and help to inform policy and practice. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).