Sexual harassment in the workplace is a serious and widespread form of sexual victimization that until recently has been largely ignored. Anecdotal accounts, clinical reports and some survey data have tentatively linked harassment to a variety of negative outcomes, including job loss, decreased morale, absenteeism and so forth. Victims have been reported to suffer a wide variety of psychological and health-related symptoms, including depression, anxiety, headaches, sleep disturbance, and gastrointestinal disorders (Koss, 1990). In pilot research, we found decreased job satisfaction, increased anxiety, and increased depression, for harassed women. The objective of the proposed study is to formally examine the effect of workplace harassment on women's mental and physical health, as well as their occupational adjustment.
The specific aims of the project are: 1) To assess the impact and outcomes of sexual harassment and to chart their course over time; 2) To identify individual and organizational factors that increase vulnerability to harassment and, especially, its outcomes; 3) To test a theoretical model of the impact of sexual harassment using both cross-sectional and longitudinal data. The research utilizes a combined cross-sectional, longitudinal design involving 4 occupationally and racially diverse samples of women (N=1200). Computerized interviews and paper-and-pencil surveys will be used to collect self-report data to be analyzed via the LISREL VIII approach to structural equation modeling. Variables assessed include job-related factors (including sexual harassment history), personal characteristics, coping methods, organizational characteristics and three sets of outcome measures: job-related outcomes, psychological outcomes (including standardized measures of psychiatric symptoms, social adjustment and subjective well-being) and health outcomes (including physical health and health satisfaction). Data from comparable samples of men will also be collected and analyzed similarly. In-depth interviews will be conducted with a subset of participants to develop a richer and more complex picture of sexual harassment, victimization and its outcomes.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01MH050791-05
Application #
6186583
Study Section
Violence and Traumatic Stress Review Committee (VTS)
Program Officer
Boyce, Cheryl A
Project Start
1996-04-01
Project End
2001-03-31
Budget Start
2000-04-01
Budget End
2001-03-31
Support Year
5
Fiscal Year
2000
Total Cost
$118,854
Indirect Cost
Name
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Department
Psychology
Type
Schools of Arts and Sciences
DUNS #
041544081
City
Champaign
State
IL
Country
United States
Zip Code
61820
Lawson, Angela K; Wright, Caroline Vaile; Fitzgerald, Louise F (2013) The evaluation of sexual harassment litigants: reducing discrepancies in the diagnosis of posttraumatic stress disorder. Law Hum Behav 37:337-347
Larsen, Sadie E; Fitzgerald, Louise F (2011) PTSD symptoms and sexual harassment: the role of attributions and perceived control. J Interpers Violence 26:2555-67
Vaile Wright, Caroline; Collinsworth, Linda L; Fitzgerald, Louise F (2010) Why did this happen to me? Cognitive schema disruption and posttraumatic stress disorder in victims of sexual trauma. J Interpers Violence 25:1801-14
Wright, Caroline Vaile; Fitzgerald, Louise F (2009) Correlates of joining a sexual harassment class action. Law Hum Behav 33:265-82
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Bergman, Mindy E; Langhout, Regina Day; Palmieri, Patrick A et al. (2002) The (un)reasonableness of reporting: antecedents and consequences of reporting sexual harassment. J Appl Psychol 87:230-42

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