Workplace harassment, active coping, and alcohol-related outcomes

Purpose: While sexual harassment and generalized workplace abuse (GWA) have been linked with alcohol use and abuse, active problem-focused coping has been shown to lessen vulnerability to deleterious mental health consequence s of varied social stressors. At the same time, active coping is relatively more efficacious in response to stressors, which are amenable to change by personal actions. However, the moderating role that coping plays in relati on to harassment and drinking is unknown. Method: Using data from a two-wav e survey of university employees (N = 2038), we addressed the extent to whi ch (1) active coping was utilized by harassed and abused employees, (2) whe ther coping impacted on the continuation or cessation of harassment and abu se, and (3) the extent to which nonsuccessful coping was predictive of alco hol use and abuse. Results: Active coping had no significant impact on the ability to end harassing or abusive experiences. Moreover, the use of probl em-focused coping that was unsuccessful predicted some drinking outcomes fo r both men and women, controlling for Wave I drinking and sociodemographic characteristics. Implications: The data suggest that increased institutiona l attention to the prevention of workplace harassment and abuse might impac t on decreasing alcohol use and abuse. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Inc. All r ights reserved.