Violence Against Psychiatric Trainees: Findings of a European Survey

Victor Pereira-Sanchez*, Ahmet Gürcan, Sundar Gnanavel, Joana Vieira, Marton Asztalos, Yugesh Rai, Gamze Erzin, Audrey Fontaine, Mariana Pinto da Costa, Anna Szczegielniak

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articleResearchpeer-review

7 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Objectives: Violence by patients against health care professionals has been widely described. Although psychiatric trainees are particularly exposed, little is known about the extent, context, and impact of violence toward them in Europe. Methods: A cross-sectional online survey was distributed between June 2018 and December 2019 among European psychiatric trainees through professional networks, using a snowball approach. The questionnaire asked about experiences of verbal abuse and physical and sexual assaults, as well as their context and impact. Descriptive analyses of the obtained data were conducted. Results: The survey was completed by 827 trainees from 39 countries (68.4% females). Most (83.6%) reported having been abused/assaulted at least once (of these, 92% verbally, 44.1% physically, and 9.3% sexually). Emergency rooms and inpatient units were the most frequent settings. Psychological impact of these events was commonly reported. Most respondents did not report abuses and assaults to their supervisors. They also described a lack of training for staff and aggression management plans at their institutions or of being unaware of their existence. Conclusions: Violence from patients is reported by many psychiatric trainees across countries in Europe, with very frequent verbal abuse and worrisome figures of physical and sexual assaults. Particularly concerning are the low proportion of trainees reporting to authorities, the lack of staff training and management protocols, and trainees’ lack of awareness about those resources. Despite the study limitation of a small response rate, these results support a call for urgent efforts to address this problem in Europe, and possibly beyond.

Original languageEnglish
JournalAcademic Psychiatry
Volume46
Issue number2
Pages (from-to)233–237
Number of pages5
ISSN1042-9670
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Apr 2022

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021, Academic Psychiatry.

Keywords

  • Europe
  • European Federation of Psychiatric Trainees
  • Medical education
  • Psychiatric trainees
  • Workplace violence

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