NCT02124837

Intervention Study on Break Activities and Workers´ Psychological and Physiological Health & Performance

An Intervention Study to Investigate the Effect of Different Types of Break Activities on Workers´ Psychological and Physiological Health & Job Performance

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 200 (actual)
• Sponsor: Tampere University · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years – 70 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

The objective of this research project is to understand and to improve workers´ recovery from work stress. Although recovery during lunch breaks is the most common within-workday break, it has received only minor research attention. Therefore, we will study whether lunch breaks including a relaxation session or exposure to nature have more favorable outcomes than usually spent lunch breaks concerning: a) recovery processes, b) health, c) well-being, d) job performance and e) creativity. We approach recovery by combining the theoretical frameworks of work and environmental psychology.

Detailed description

We conduct an intervention study in a sample of 200 knowledge-workers who engage in different lunch break activities for 15-minutes per day, two weeks in a row. We randomly assign participants to three experimental conditions: 1) exposure to nature, 2) relaxation and 3) control group (lunch break spent as usual). Online questionnaires before and after the intervention assess long term changes regarding recovery processes and the major outcome variables. Before, during and after the intervention, SMS and paper-pencil questionnaires measure the same constructs four times a day with fewer items. We also measure blood pressure and collect saliva samples to map cortisol excretion across the intervention period. A timed experimental task (i.e., the Alternative Uses Task) is used to examine differences in creativity between the three groups after the intervention period. By combining the knowledge of work and environmental psychology about recovery and restorative experiences, by merging three recovery perspectives (settings, processes, and outcomes) and by using data triangulation, we produce valid results that broaden our view on mechanisms underlying recovery and enhance our understanding about their links to psychological, behavioural and physiological outcomes, resulting in a more comprehensive picture of work stress recovery in general.

Conditions

• Exposure to Nature During Lunch Breaks
• Relaxation Exercises During Lunch Breaks

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	Park walk during lunch break
BEHAVIORAL	Relaxation during lunch break

Timeline

• Start date: 2014-04-01
• Primary completion: 2014-11-01
• Completion: 2014-11-01
• First posted: 2014-04-28
• Last updated: 2014-12-02

Locations

1 site across 1 country: Finland