Psychosocial study environment characteristics associated with exposure to sexual harassment at a large public university in southern Sweden: a cross-sectional study

ABSTRACT

Background

Universities can be understood as work-like environments for students, with similar risks and expectations regarding psychosocial environment. Limited research has examined this study environment from a Demand-Control-Support perspective with regard to sexual harassment. Understanding this environment is key to designing protective measures. This study aimed to examine the association between individual and psychosocial study environment characteristics and exposure to sexual harassment among students at Lund University, Sweden.

Methods

This cross-sectional study utilised data from an online survey conducted among students. Questions on background characteristics, exposure to sexual harassment while at university and psychosocial study environment as measured by a Demand-Control-Support-instrument were used. Bivariate, and multivariable logistic regressions were used, together with Population Attributable Fractions (PAF), and synergy indexes (SI).

Results

High demands and low control were independently associated with higher odds of being exposed to sexual harassment among both females and males (OR 1.41, OR 1.26 and OR 1.55, OR1.34, respectively). When adjusting for background characteristics, high study strain (combination of high demands and low control) was associated with exposure to sexual harassment among both female and male respondents (aOR 1.67 and 1.98 respectively) and could account for PAF of 14% and 15% of study environment sexual harassment for females and males, respectively. Low lecturer support was associated with higher odds for sexual harassment among females (aOR 1.19) but not males. Little evidence was found for a buffering effect of student support on high strain and sexual harassment (SI 0.7).

Conclusion

Working to reduce situations of high strain study environments could be an effective strategy for reducing sexual harassment in university settings. Improving support from lecturers could also modify this relationship, but more research is required to identify causal pathways underlying this result.

KEYWORDS:

• Sexual harassment
• psychosocial study environment
• demand-control-support
• university students
• study strain

Responsible Editor Maria Nilsson

Responsible Editor Maria Nilsson

Acknowledgments

We wish to thank all participants in this study for taking their time to complete the questionnaire and for sharing their experiences.

Authors’ contributions

JP, AA and POÖ were involved in the conception of the study. AA and JP collected the data, JP conducted the analyses. POÖ, ML and AA contributed to the data analysis and interpretation. JP drafted the manuscript. All authors reviewed and approved the final version of the manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Ethics approval and consent to participate

Ethical approval for the study was received from the Swedish Ethical Review Authority (number: 2018/350). Consent was provided by study participants through completion of the survey instrument.

Paper context

Research shows that the work environment is an important factor for understanding sexual harassment. No research exists examining the associations between psychosocial study environment and sexual harassment in universities. This article examines this association. Results show that high study strain (combination of high demands and low control) was associated with exposure to sexual harassment among both female and male respondents. Reducing high strain environments could be an effective strategy for addressing sexual harassment in universities.

Data availability statement

Data cannot be shared publicly because of the sensitive nature. Data are available from Lund University (contact via the correspondent author) for researchers who meet the criteria for access to confidential data.

Additional information

Funding

This work was funded by the Swedish Research Council, grant number [2018-02457]. The funding institution had no role in the design of the study, data collection, analysis and interpretation of data, or in writing of the manuscript.