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International Archives of Occupational and Environmental Health
Published in: International Archives of Occupational and Environmental Health 4/2016

01-05-2016 | Original Article

Time-lagged relationships between leadership behaviors and psychological distress after a workplace terrorist attack

Authors: Marianne Skogbrott Birkeland, Morten Birkeland Nielsen, Stein Knardahl, Trond Heir

Published in: International Archives of Occupational and Environmental Health | Issue 4/2016

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Abstract

Purpose

The impact of leadership practices on employee health may be especially evident after extreme events that have physical, psychological, or material consequences for the members of an organization. In this prospective study, we aimed to examine the association between leadership behavior and psychological distress in employees who had experienced a workplace terror attack.

Methods

Ten and 22 months after the 2011 Oslo bombing attack targeting their workplace, ministerial employees (n = 2272) responded to a questionnaire assessing fair, empowering, supportive, and laissez-faire leadership, as well as psychological distress. Cross-sectional and time-lagged associations between the constructs were tested using structural equation modeling.

Results

Cross-sectionally, higher levels of supportive leadership were associated with lower levels of psychological distress. Longitudinally, negative relationships were found between psychological distress and subsequent ratings of fair and empowering leadership.

Conclusions

Supportive leadership was associated with employees’ psychological health after trauma, but seems not to have long-term effects on subsequent psychological distress. Rather, psychological distress may lead the employees to perceive their leaders as more negative across time.
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Metadata
Title
Time-lagged relationships between leadership behaviors and psychological distress after a workplace terrorist attack
Authors
Marianne Skogbrott Birkeland
Morten Birkeland Nielsen
Stein Knardahl
Trond Heir
Publication date
01-05-2016
Publisher
Springer Berlin Heidelberg
Published in
International Archives of Occupational and Environmental Health / Issue 4/2016
Print ISSN: 0340-0131
Electronic ISSN: 1432-1246
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00420-015-1106-2

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