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Taking a Stand for Office-Based Workers' Mental Health: The Return of the Microbreak

Casey Peter Mainsbridge1, Dean Cooley2, Sarah Dawkins3

  • 1School of Education, Launceston, TAS, Australia.

Frontiers in Public Health
|June 30, 2020
PubMed

Insights

Movement microbreaks during work hours may improve mental well-being for desk-based employees. This study found that incorporating these short physical activity breaks can reduce job-related stress and enhance mood states in police officers.

Area of Science:

  • Occupational health
  • Psychology
  • Exercise science

Background:

  • Sedentary work can deplete physical and psychological resources.
  • Movement microbreaks show potential for improving cardiovascular health in desk-based workers.
  • The impact of microbreaks on mood states remains under-investigated.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To assess the effect of movement microbreaks during formal work hours on mood states.
  • To investigate the influence of microbreaks on job stress, fatigue, and vigor.
  • To explore the mental health benefits of interrupting sedentary work.

Main Methods:

  • A randomized-controlled pilot study with repeated measures (baseline, post-test, washout).
  • Inclusion of self-reported job stress and mood states (fatigue, vigor).
  • Experimental group exposed to movement microbreaks during work hours (N=43 police officers).

Main Results:

  • A multivariate significant difference between groups was observed post-intervention.
  • The experimental group demonstrated a latent reduction in job-related stress after a 3-month washout period.
  • Preliminary findings suggest positive effects on employee mental health.

Conclusions:

  • Interrupting sedentary work with movement microbreaks may benefit employee mental health.
  • Movement microbreaks show potential for mitigating work-related stress, particularly for first responders.
  • Further research is warranted to confirm these preliminary findings and explore broader implications.
Keywords:
fatiguemental healthmicrobreaksoccupational healthprolonged sittingstressvigor

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