Relationship Between Sedentary Behavior and Physical Activity at Work and Cognition and Mood

Area of Science:

• Occupational Health
• Cognitive Science
• Behavioral Science

Background:

• Sedentary behavior, common in adult work environments, negatively impacts cognition and mood.
• Replacing sitting with standing and physical activity (PA) is often recommended to mitigate these effects.
• The specific relationships between workplace sitting, standing, and PA with cognitive and mood outcomes remain unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the associations between workplace sitting, standing, and physical activity (PA) levels and cognitive function and mood in healthy full-time workers.
• To determine if these associations differ based on time spent during work hours, weekday leisure, or weekends.

Main Methods:

• 75 healthy full-time workers (mean age 33.6 years) wore activity monitors for 7 days to measure sedentary behavior and PA.
• Participants completed cognitive tests (executive function, attention, working memory) and mood questionnaires post-monitoring.
• Multiple linear regression analyses were used to examine associations between behaviors and outcomes during different time periods.

Main Results:

• No statistically significant associations were found between workplace sitting, standing, or PA and cognitive function or mood (P > .05).
• Similarly, no significant associations were observed for these behaviors during weekday leisure time or weekends (P > .05).

Conclusions:

• In this cohort of healthy workers, workplace sitting, standing, and PA did not demonstrate significant associations with cognition or mood.
• Further research is warranted to explore the influence of workplace behaviors on cognitive and mood outcomes.
• Findings may inform evidence-based workplace guidelines aimed at enhancing employee productivity.