Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Quality of Life in Victims of a Violent Act at Work: A Longitudinal Study

With the general aim of better understanding their temporal relationships, trauma-related symptoms and quality of life were investigated among victims of a violent act at work. Method: We used path analysis modeling to test the relationship between symptoms and quality of life as interrelated rather than merely sequential in a cohort of 189 individuals exposed to violence at work in the health care and public transit sector. Results: Results showed a pattern of reciprocal negative association between symptoms and quality of life over time and measurements of quality of life to impact significantly on subsequent perceptions of trauma-related symptoms. No indication of temporal relationship between trauma-related symptoms and subsequent quality of life was found in our study. Conclusions: Study results increase our understanding of the longitudinal associations between trauma-related symptoms and quality of life as consequences of the exposure to workplace violence, and help to inform policy and practice.