Work Environment and Psychosocial Factors Affecting Physical Activity among Taiwanese Information Technology Professionals.

Abstract

Information technology (IT) professionals are typically sedentary and little is known about factors that influence their physical activity. Research has been limited by a lack of validated measures of workplace physical activity environments. PURPOSES: The purposes of this study were to (a) examine psychometric properties of a newly translated instrument for measuring workplace environments and (b) examine relationships among work environment (supportive workplace environments and job strain), psychosocial factors (outcome expectations and self-efficacy for physical activity), and physical activity in Taiwanese IT professionals. METHODS: This research was guided by a hypothesized model using Social Cognitive Theory, incorporating variables from the demand/control model. This was a cross-sectional survey of 576 IT professionals (467 men and 109 women; M = 33.7 years, SD = 6.08) from three IT companies in Taiwan. Three instruments were translated into Chinese using a modified committee approach. Participants completed a Chinese questionnaire that included the International Physical Activity Questionnaire-Taiwan long form, Perceived Workplace Environment Scale (PWES-C), Psychological Job Demands and Job Control Scale, Scale of Exercise Self-Efficacy, Positive and Negative Outcome Expectations Scale (PNOES-C), and Historical Physical Activity Questionnaire (HPAQ-C). Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to test the model. RESULTS: Psychometric properties of the PWES-C demonstrated satisfactory internal consistency reliability, content and construct validity. SEM analyses showed that (a) higher levels of physical activity were associated with higher perceptions of supportive workplace environments, positive outcome expectations, and self-efficacy; (b) self-efficacy partially mediated the effects of supportive workplace environments on physical activity; (c) job strain had an indirect effect on physical activity through self-efficacy; (d) the final model accounted for 31% of the variance in physical activity; and (e) the effect of gender on our findings was not substantial in multigroup analyses. CONCLUSIONS: The PWES-C is a reliable and valid measure of perceived workplace environment in Taiwanese IT professionals. Both work environment and psychosocial factors are important. Interventions directed toward increasing individuals’ confidence in their ability to overcome barriers to physical activity and positive expected outcomes of physical activity in the context of supportive workplace environments may be useful. Study limitations, implications and future directions are discussed.