摘要：Working long hours is often said to be associated with depression. Research has also shown that physical activity is a remedy for depression.If this is the case, work involving an adequate level of physical activity may reduce depression. This study therefore examines the association between work-related physical activity and depression. A cross-sectional quantitative research design was applied. Three groups of workers having varied physical activity levels were compared. Each group had 218 volunteer participants. Analysis of Variance and a linear contrasts test were used to present results. Data analysis shows that sedentary jobs have the highest level of depression (Mean = 26.03, SD = 10.24, 95%CI = 25.26-27.80). Partially sedentary jobs produce a depression level higher than SEDJOB but lower than PHYJOB (Mean = 15.867, SD = 7.49, 95%CI = 14.9, 16.9). Physical jobs produce the lowest level of depression (Mean = 11.119, SD = 6.26, 95%CI = 10.3, 12.0). The study thus finds a statistically significant negative association between work-related physical activity and depression at 1% significance level. Thus, depression decreases with increased work-related physical activity. It may therefore be necessary for organizations to implement systems that encourage workers to regularly engage in work-related physical activity. They may have to create recreation centers (e.g. Gyms) where workers can exercise after hours of work in sedentary conditions.
