Intimate Partner Violence in the Workplace: Exploring Gender Differences in Current Health-Related Quality of Life

Workplace restraint and interference (WRI) behaviors represent a distinct form of intimate partner violence (IPV) that undermines survivors’ employment. This study explored relationships between WRI, gender, and health-related quality of life. Eight linear regressions tested the relationship between WRI and health-related quality of life measures within a large corporate sample. Overall, female employees reported poorer outcomes on all health-related quality of life domains compared with males. WRI experiences uniquely contributed to female employees’ anxious moods, sleep disruptions, and reduced vitality, as well as male employee pain, beyond other factors. Helping employees, supervisors, and co-workers to understand WRI as IPV increases opportunities to enhance employee safety, health, and well-being. Future research, including WRI measurement development, can deepen our understanding WRI experiences on specific health outcomes.