Experiences of workplace mistreatment are associated with poor physical and mental health outcomes. Workplace mistreatment among early childhood education workers is underexplored in the United States. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health’s Worker Well-Being Questionnaire was used to assess the extent and types of workplace mistreatment among 332 early childhood education staff in 42 Head Start centers in Colorado. The authors assessed seven forms of mistreatment, sociodemographic differences in mistreatment, poor mental health days, and the relationship between experiences of mistreatment and mental health. Condescending or demeaning treatment was the most common form of workplace mistreatment (24%) and 15% of respondents reported two or more types of mistreatment. The mean number of self-reported poor mental health days per month was 7.44 days (SD ± 8.51). Younger workers aged 18–29 and 30–44 years reported significantly more poor mental health days than older workers (8.0 and 8.9 vs. 5.6, p < .05). A greater number of different types of workplace mistreatment was positively associated with poor mental health days, controlling for sociodemographic covariates (β = 0.14, p < .05). These findings suggest a need for organizational-level change and additional support structures to help early childhood education workers to thrive, thus ensuring quality education for children in the United States.

工作场所虐待的经历与不良的身心健康结果有关。在美国，幼儿教育工作者在工作场所受到的虐待尚未得到充分调查。美国国家职业安全与健康研究所的工人福祉调查问卷用于评估科罗拉多州 42 个启蒙中心 332 名幼儿教育工作人员在工作场所受到虐待的程度和类型。作者评估了七种形式的虐待、虐待的社会人口差异、心理健康状况不佳的日子以及虐待经历与心理健康之间的关系。居高临下或贬低性待遇是工作场所虐待的最常见形式 (24%)，15% 的受访者报告有两种或多种类型的虐待。每月自我报告的心理健康状况不佳的平均天数为 7.44 天 (SD ± 8.51)。 18-29 岁和 30-44 岁的年轻工人报告心理健康状况不佳的天数明显多于年长工人（8.0 和 8.9 vs. 5.6，p < .05）。控制社会人口统计学协变量后，更多不同类型的工作场所虐待与心理健康状况不佳呈正相关（β = 0.14，p < .05）。这些发现表明，需要进行组织层面的变革和额外的支持结构，以帮助幼儿教育工作者蓬勃发展，从而确保美国儿童的优质教育。