Topic: Disasters, terror and stress management

Associations between work environment and psychological distress after a workplace terror attack: The importance of role expectations, predictability and leader support

Birkeland, M. S., Nielsen, M. B., Knardahl, S., & Heir, T. (2015). Associations between work environment and psychological distress after a workplace terror attack: The importance of role expectations, predictability and leader support. PLOS ONE, 10(3). doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0119492

Data from approximately 1800 ministerial employees were collected ten months after the 2011 Oslo bombing attack which targeted the Norwegian ministries.

The results show that after a traumatic event, lower role conflicts, higher role clarity, higher predictability, and higher leader support were independently associated with lower psychological distress. These findings suggest that the workplace environment may be a facilitator of employees’ mental health after stressful events.

The Researchers