Background: Workplace bullying (WB) is a hostile or intimidating behavior that is practiced against workers and has a negative impact on health, job performance, and the learning process. The objective was to research WB magnitude and its associated factors in Mexico.
Methods: Mixed method study. A survey was designed and administered to all the residents in a pediatric hospital in Mexico who agreed to participate. The survey was divided in two sections: a) resident self-reported events of workplace bullying and associated factors, b) situations and factors of abuse were interrogated in a targeted manner.
Results: 137 residents participated in the survey, out of which 32% spontaneously reported have been bullied, and 82.4% harassing behaviors in the targeted section. Personal factors that cause WB in this population were: gender, mental skills and physical appearance. Situations that predispose to harassment were: hierarchy, and lack of supervision. Teachers were more frequently the perpetrators. Factors identified as significant for WB were: being female, younger than 29, studying pediatrics, being unmarried, and having reported harassment spontaneously.
Conclusions: The frequency of WB and associated factors are similar to those reported by other authors. Half of the residents did not report spontaneously harassing events, but identified them in the targeted section, which suggests that they consider them as part of the "costumes and habits" during their medical training, or they consider them irrelevant.
Introducción: el acoso laboral es una conducta intimidatoria que se practica contra el trabajador e impacta negativamente en el estado de salud, el desempeño laboral y el aprendizaje. El presente trabajo investiga su magnitud y sus factores asociados en México. Métodos: metodología mixta. Se diseñó y aplicó una encuesta a los residentes de un hospital pediátrico de México que aceptaron participar. Se dividió en dos secciones: a) el residente reportó eventos de mobbing y factores asociados, b) se exploraron de manera dirigida situaciones de abuso documentadas en la literatura. Resultados: participaron 137 residentes. De ellos, 32% reportó espontáneamente haber sufrido acoso, mientras que 82.4% lo refirió en el cuestionario dirigido. Los factores personales precipitantes fueron: sexo, habilidades mentales y apariencia física. Las situaciones que predispusieron al acoso fueron jerarquía y falta de supervisión. Los profesores fueron los principales perpetradores, ocurrió más comúnmente en hospitalización. Se identificaron como factores significativos el sexo femenino, tener menos de 29 años, estudiar pediatría, ser solteros y haber reportado acoso de manera espontánea. Conclusiones: la frecuencia de acoso es similar a la reportada por otros autores. La mitad de los residentes no reportaron espontáneamente eventos de acoso pero los identificaron en el cuestionamiento dirigido, lo que sugiere que consideran estos eventos como parte de “los usos y costumbres” durante su entrenamiento médico, o los consideran irrelevantes.
Keywords: Bullying; Medical residency; Stalking; Workplace violence.