Westchester, September 1 (ANI): Exposure to workplace bullying is associated with increased sleep disturbances, according to a new study.

A study in the Sept.1 issue of the journal 'Sleep' claims association between observed bullying and sleep disruption, indicating that bullying has unfavorable effects even when it is experienced indirectly.

It also helps reveal the prevalence of workplace bullying, with 11 percent of women and nine percent of men facing "hostile behavior" in their jobs at least weekly and for at least six months during the previous 12 months.

The other factors such as age, occupation, weekly work hours and depressive symptoms were taken into account too, but yet it was found that exposure to bullying was significantly associated with self-reported sleep disturbances.

The adjusted odds ratio of having disturbed sleep was more than two times higher in men than women who were nearly two times more likely to report having sleep disturbances if they had experienced daily or almost daily bullying or had been exposed to bullying for more than five years.

Principal investigator Isabelle Niedhammer, PhD, epidemiologist and researcher at the UCD School of Public Health and Population Science at the University College Dublin in Ireland believes that exposure to any form of violence or harassment at the workplace may raise the chances of having sleep disturbances.

He said: "Workplace bullying may be considered as one of the leading job stressors and would be a major cause of suicide and other health-related issues.

"Our study underlines the need to better understand and prevent occupational risk factors, such as bullying, for sleep disorders." (ANI)