title: Office workers' computer use patterns are associated with workplace stressors.
abstract: This field study examined associations between workplace stressors and office workers' computer use patterns. We collected keyboard and mouse activities of 93 office workers (68F, 25M) for approximately two work weeks. Linear regression analyses examined the associations between self-reported effort, reward, overcommitment, and perceived stress and software-recorded computer use duration, number of short and long computer breaks, and pace of input device usage. Daily duration of computer use was, on average, 30 min longer for workers with high compared to low levels of overcommitment and perceived stress. The number of short computer breaks (30 s-5 min long) was approximately 20% lower for those with high compared to low effort and for those with low compared to high reward. These outcomes support the hypothesis that office workers' computer use patterns vary across individuals with different levels of workplace stressors.
authors.affiliation: Department of Public and Occupational Health and the EMGO Institute for Health and Care Research, VU University Medical Center, PO Box 7057, 1007 MB Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Body@Work Research Center on Physical Activity, Work and Health, TNO-VU/VUmc, PO Box 7057, 1007 MB Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Belinda H W
authors.initials: BH
authors.lastname: Eijckelhof
authors.affiliation: Department of Public and Occupational Health and the EMGO Institute for Health and Care Research, VU University Medical Center, PO Box 7057, 1007 MB Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Body@Work Research Center on Physical Activity, Work and Health, TNO-VU/VUmc, PO Box 7057, 1007 MB Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Electronic address: m.huysmans@vumc.nl.
authors.forename: Maaike A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Huysmans
authors.affiliation: Body@Work Research Center on Physical Activity, Work and Health, TNO-VU/VUmc, PO Box 7057, 1007 MB Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research, TNO, Postbus 718, 2130 AS Hoofddorp, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Birgitte M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Blatter
authors.affiliation: Department of Public and Occupational Health and the EMGO Institute for Health and Care Research, VU University Medical Center, PO Box 7057, 1007 MB Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Priscilla C
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Leider
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Washington, Box 357234, Seattle, USA.
authors.forename: Peter W
authors.initials: PW
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.affiliation: Body@Work Research Center on Physical Activity, Work and Health, TNO-VU/VUmc, PO Box 7057, 1007 MB Amsterdam, The Netherlands; MOVE Research Institute Amsterdam, Faculty of Human Movement Sciences, VU University Amsterdam, Van der Boechorststraat 9, 1081 BT Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Jaap H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: van Dieën
authors.affiliation: Department of Public and Occupational Health and the EMGO Institute for Health and Care Research, VU University Medical Center, PO Box 7057, 1007 MB Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Department of Environmental Health, Harvard School of Public Health, 665 Huntington Avenue, Boston, USA; Department of Physical Therapy, Bouvé College of Health Sciences, Northeastern University, 360 Huntington Avenue, Boston, USA.
authors.forename: Jack T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Dennerlein
authors.affiliation: Department of Public and Occupational Health and the EMGO Institute for Health and Care Research, VU University Medical Center, PO Box 7057, 1007 MB Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Body@Work Research Center on Physical Activity, Work and Health, TNO-VU/VUmc, PO Box 7057, 1007 MB Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Electronic address: a.vanderbeek@vumc.nl.
authors.forename: Allard J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: van der Beek
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001134:Arm Injuries / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D003201:Computers / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006804:Ergonomics; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D019547:Neck Pain / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D009426:Netherlands; D011187:Posture / Q000502:physiology; D012201:Reward; D013312:Stress, Physiological / Q000502:physiology*; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D013997:Time Factors
keywords: Computer break; Computer use; Upper extremity