AUTHOR=van Beukering I. E. , Sampogna G. , Bakker M. , Joosen M. C. W. , Dewa C. S. , van Weeghel J. , Henderson C. , Brouwers E. P. M. 

TITLE=Dutch workers’ attitudes towards having a coworker with mental health issues or illness: a latent class analysis

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychiatry

VOLUME=Volume 14 - 2023

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychiatry/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1212568

DOI=10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1212568

ISSN=1664-0640

ABSTRACT=Introduction: Workplace mental health stigma is a major problem as it can lead to adverse occupational outcomes and reduced well-being. Although workplace climate is largely determined by managers and co-workers, the role of co-workers in workplace stigma is understudied. Therefore, the aims are: (1) to examine knowledge and attitudes towards having a coworker with Mental Health Issues or Illness (MHI), especially concerning the desire for social distance, (2) to identify distinct subgroups of workers based on their potential concerns towards having a coworker with MHI, and (3) to characterize these subgroups in terms of knowledge, attitudes, and background characteristics.  
Materials and methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among a nationally representative internet panel of 1,224 Dutch workers who had paid jobs and did not hold management positions. Descriptive statistics and a three-step approach Latent Class Analysis (LCA) were used to address the research aims. 
Results: Concerning the desire for social distance, 41.9% of the workers indicated they did not want to have a close colleague with MHI, and 64.1% did not want to work for a higher-ranking manager who had MHI. In contrast however, most workers did not have negative experiences with interacting with coworkers with MHI (92.6%). Next, five distinct subgroups of workers were identified: two subgroups with few concerns towards having a coworker with MHI, one subgroup with average concerns, and two subgroups with more concerns. Four out of five subgroups showed a high tendency towards the desire for social distance. Nevertheless, even in the subgroups with more concerns, (almost) half of the respondents were willing to learn more about how to best deal with coworkers with MHI. No significant differences were found between the subgroups on background characteristics.
Discussion: The desire for social distance seems to contrast with the low number of respondents who personally had negative experiences with workers with MHI. Destigmatizing interventions in the workplace are needed and should focus on increasing the knowledge of workers about how to best communicate and deal with coworkers with MHI in order to create more inclusive workplaces to improve sustained employment of people with MHI.