Office workers' computer use patterns are associated with workplace stressors

Positioning Technostress in the JD-R Model Perspective: A Systematic Literature Review

This paper aims to describe the effects of Technostress on employees' well-being and productivity. We adopted the Job Demands Resources Model as a theoretical framework to analyze the "Technostress" phenomenon in order to clarify whether and how technology can be considered a job demand, a job resource, or part of the effects of personal resources in the workplace. The sources search and selection process was conducted according to the PRISMA guidelines and regarded papers published from 2010 to 2022. Overall, the findings show that most selected papers consider ICT a job demand negatively affecting human behavior, thoughts, and attitudes. In contrast, some report that ICT acts as a job resource, thus reducing the impact of job demands and their physiological and psychological costs. Finally, a third category of studies does not consider the effects of ICT itself but gives more space to the interaction among ICT, the organizational context in which it is used, and the personal characteristics of ICT users. More specifically, the findings show how individual features and organizational procedures can shape the interpretations employees make about their ICT-related experiences at work and, consequently, their performance or well-being. Findings suggest that when ICT tools are strategically planned and used within organizations, they can enrich the employee experience at work, positively affecting the individual and the organizational level.

A smart computer mouse with biometric sensors for unobtrusive office work-related stress monitoring

Health disorders related to the prolonged exposure to stress are very common among office workers. The need for an automated and unobtrusive method of detecting and monitoring occupational stress is imperative and intensifies in the current conditions, where the pandemic COVID-19 causes changes in the working norms globally. In this study, we present a smart computer mouse with biometric sensors integrated in such a way that its structure and functionality remain unaffected. Photoplethysmography (PPG) signal is collected from user's thumb by a PPG sensor placed on the side wall of the mouse, while galvanic skin response (GSR) is measured from the palm through two electrodes placed on the top surface of the mouse. Biosignals are processed by a microcontroller and can be transferred wirelessly over Wi-Fi connection. Both the sensors and the microcontroller have been placed inside the mouse, enabling its plug and play use, without any additional equipment. The proposed module has been developed as part of a system that infers about the stress levels of office workers, based on their interactions with the computer and its peripheral devices.

Computer Mouse Movements as an Indicator of Work Stress: Longitudinal Observational Field Study

BACKGROUND

Work stress affects individual health and well-being. These negative effects could be mitigated through regular monitoring of employees' stress. Such monitoring becomes even more important as the digital transformation of the economy implies profound changes in working conditions.

OBJECTIVE

The goal of this study was to investigate the association between computer mouse movements and work stress in the field.

METHODS

We hypothesized that stress is associated with a speed-accuracy trade-off in computer mouse movements. To test this hypothesis, we conducted a longitudinal field study at a large business organization, where computer mouse movements from regular work activities were monitored over 7 weeks; the study included 70 subjects and 1829 observations. A Bayesian regression model was used to estimate whether self-reported acute work stress was associated with a speed-accuracy trade-off in computer mouse movements.

RESULTS

There was a negative association between stress and the two-way interaction term of mouse speed and accuracy (mean -0.32, 95% highest posterior density interval -0.58 to -0.08), which means that stress was associated with a speed-accuracy trade-off. The estimated association was not sensitive to different processing of the data and remained negative after controlling for the demographics, health, and personality traits of subjects.

CONCLUSIONS

Self-reported acute stress is associated with computer mouse movements, specifically in the form of a speed-accuracy trade-off. This finding suggests that the regular analysis of computer mouse movements could indicate work stress.

Associations of screen work with neck and upper extremity symptoms: a systematic review with meta-analysis

Objectives

It has often been suggested that screen work (ie, work on desktop, laptop, notebook or tablet computers) is a risk factor for neck and upper extremity symptoms. However, an up-to-date overview and quantification of evidence are lacking. We aimed to systematically review the association of exposure to screen work with neck and upper extremity symptoms from prospective studies.

Methods

An electronic database search (PubMed, Embase, Cinahl and Scopus) for prospective studies on the association of exposure to screen work and musculoskeletal symptoms was conducted. Studies were synthesised regarding extracted data and risk of bias, and meta-analyses were conducted.

Results

After screening 3423 unique references, 19 articles from 12 studies (with 18 538 participants) were included for the current review, with the most recent exposure assessment reported in 2005. Studies described duration and input frequency of screen work (ie, computer, keyboard and mouse use, assessed using self-reports or software recordings) and musculoskeletal symptoms (ie, self-reported neck/shoulder and distal upper extremity symptoms and diagnosed carpal tunnel syndrome [CTS]). Although there was overall an increased occurrence of musculoskeletal symptoms with larger exposure to screen work (relative risk: 1.11 [1.03 1.19]), findings were rather inconsistent with weaker (and statistically non-significant) risks when screen work was assessed by software recording (1.05 [0.91 1.21]) compared to with self-report (1.14 [1.03 1.19]).

Conclusions

We found an increased risk of musculoskeletal symptoms with screen work. However, the evidence is heterogeneous, and it is striking that it lacks information from contemporary screen work using laptop, notebook or tablet computers.

Use of information communication technology and stress, burnout, and mental health in older, middle-aged, and younger workers - results from a systematic review

The aim of this systematic review is to summarise quantitative studies in occupational settings observing the association between Information communication technology (ICT) and stress, and burnout, considering age as an effect modifier. A systematic review using PRISMA guidelines was conducted through the following bibliographic databases: PubMed, Web of Science, Psycinfo, and the Cochrane Library. Inclusion criteria were occupational settings and content relevant to our research question. Risk of bias was assessed using the Newcastle-Ottawa scale. Two interventional, 4 cohorts, and 29 cross-sectional studies were found. ICT use in occupational settings was associated with stress seen in cross-sectional studies, but not in interventional studies. There was a concordant association with ICT and burnout in different study designs. Overall, there were no linear trends between age and technostress. We suggest that the observed associations were mostly present in the middle-aged working population and that these associations need to be supported in further studies.

Towards an automatic early stress recognition system for office environments based on multimodal measurements: A review

Stress is a major problem of our society, as it is the cause of many health problems and huge economic losses in companies. Continuous high mental workloads and non-stop technological development, which leads to constant change and need for adaptation, makes the problem increasingly serious for office workers. To prevent stress from becoming chronic and provoking irreversible damages, it is necessary to detect it in its early stages. Unfortunately, an automatic, continuous and unobtrusive early stress detection method does not exist yet. The multimodal nature of stress and the research conducted in this area suggest that the developed method will depend on several modalities. Thus, this work reviews and brings together the recent works carried out in the automatic stress detection looking over the measurements executed along the three main modalities, namely, psychological, physiological and behavioural modalities, along with contextual measurements, in order to give hints about the most appropriate techniques to be used and thereby, to facilitate the development of such a holistic system.