User Violence and Psychological Well-being in Primary Health-Care Professionals

• Published in: The European journal of psychology applied to legal context Vol. 10; no. 1; pp. 57 - 63
• Main Authors: López-García, Cecilia, Ruiz-Hernández, José A, Llor-Zaragoza, Laura, Llor-Zaragoza, Paloma, Jiménez-Barbero, José Antonio
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Madrid Colegio Oficial de Psicólogos (PSICODOC) 01-07-2018; Sociedad Española de Psicología Jurídica y Forense; Colegio Oficial de Psicólogos de Madrid; Sociedad Española de Psicología Jurídica y Forense
• Subjects: Aggression; Aggressiveness; Anxiety; Behavioral Sciences; Burnout; Emergency medical care; Empathy; Health care; Health psychology; Health services; Health staff; Internal medicine; Job satisfaction; Law; Medical personnel; Nurses; Nursing; Patients; Primary care; Primary health-care; Professionals; Psychological well-being; Psychology; Public health; Quality of life; Quantitative psychology; Questionnaires; Sociodemographics; User behavior; Violence; Workplace violence; Canary Islands; Spain; Agresión; Atención primaria; Aggression; Health staff; Workplace violence; Personal sanitario; Job satisfaction; Primary health-care; Psychological well-being; Satisfacción laboral; Violencia laboral
• ISSN: 1889-1861; 1989-4007; 1989-4007
• DOI: 10.5093/ejpalc2018a6

It is estimated that one fourth of workplace violent incidents occur in the health sector. The aims of the present investigation are: a) to identify sociodemographic and work variables related to exposure to user violence in primary care professionals and b) to analyze the impact of exposure to user violence on professionals' psychological well-being, job satisfaction, and empathy. An empirical study with quantitative, descriptive, and transversal methodology was carried out with a sample of 574 professionals from 39 primary-care centers. The study revealed that variables of gender, professional tenure, continued training, and professional status are significantly associated with exposure to user violence. Likewise, the results show that depending on professional status exposure to user violence, job satisfaction and professionals' empathy have an impact on primary health-care workers' General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) scores. In conclusion, exposure to non-physical user violence in primary-care professionals is associated with some sociodemographic and work characteristics.