Aim To determine the extent of Turkish junior male physicians’
exposure to mobbing behavior and its correlation
with physicians’ characteristics.
Methods The study included physicians recruited for compulsory
military service in April 2009. No sampling method
was used, questionnaires were delivered to all physicians,
and 278 of 292 (95%) questionnaires were returned. We
used Leymann Inventory of Psychological Terror including
45 items for data collection and structural equation model
for data analysis.
Results A total of 87.7% of physicians experienced mobbing
behavior. Physicians who worked more than 40 hours
a week, single physicians, physicians working in university
hospitals and private hospitals, and physicians who did not
have occupational commitment were more exposed to
mobbing (P < 0.05). Mobbing was not associated with specialty
status, service period, age, and personality variables
(P > 0.05). All goodness-of- fit indices of the model were acceptable
(χ2 = 1.449, normed fit index = 0.955, Tucker Lewis
index = 0.980, comparative fit index = 0.985, and root mean
square error of approximation = 0.040).
Conclusions Workplace mobbing is a critical problem for
junior male physicians in Turkey. We suggest an introduction
of a reporting system and education activities for physicians
in high-risk groups
