Background: To date it is unknown whether movement behavior change interventions among office workers are effective for improving mental health. Therefore, we designed a multi-component cluster RCT among office workers (N=263). One intervention group focused on reducing sedentary behavior (SED), the other on increasing moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) compared to a wait-list control group. Based on ecological models of health behavior, intervention components addressed the individual (counseling using cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and motivational interviewing (MI)), the environmental (group activities such as lunch walks), and the organizational level (companies promoting the interventions internally). Primary outcomes were changes in accelerometer-measured and self-reported SED and MVPA, secondary outcomes were depression and anxiety symptoms, burnout, stress and mental well-being, assessed via validated, web- based questionnaires. Previous analyses using a compositional data analysis (CoDA) approach did not find intervention effects on 24-h movement behavior, i.e., SED, light intensity, moderate or vigorous physical activity.
Purpose: This study aims at investigating intervention effects on mental health, i.e., depression and anxiety symptoms, burnout, stress and mental well-being. Secondary aims are to describe those participants that achieved a significant change in accelerometer- and device-measured SED and MVPA in comparison to those that did not, and to investigate whether changes in movement behavior were associated with changes in mental well-being.
Methods: Linear mixed model analysis will be performed to analyze effects on mental health, according to the published study protocol.
Performing exploratory analyses, quartiles of participants, based on changes in MVPA and SED, will be described on demographic characteristics and compared across quartiles. Change change analyses will investigate whether changes in SED or MVPA are associated with changes in mental well-being. CoDA will be applied, taking the co-dependence of 24-h movement behaviors into account.
Implications: High sedentariness and sick-leave due to mental illness are challenges associated with office work. This RCT is the first among office workers that applies a multi-component approach to address several levels of health behavior, and that includes CBT and MI techniques. Results may inform occupational health and researcher efforts aiming at addressing the burden of sedentariness and its related consequences on mental health.
2022.
International Society of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity (ISBNPA), Phoenix, Arizona, USA, May 18-21