TY  - JOUR
AU  - Banholzer, Nicolas
AU  - Feuerriegel, Stefan
AU  - Fleisch, Elgar
AU  - Bauer, Georg Friedrich
AU  - Kowatsch, Tobias
PY  - 2021
DA  - 2021/4/2
TI  - Computer Mouse Movements as an Indicator of Work Stress: Longitudinal Observational Field Study
JO  - J Med Internet Res
SP  - e27121
VL  - 23
IS  - 4
KW  - work stress
KW  - psychological stress
KW  - stress indicator
KW  - computer mouse movements
KW  - human-computer interactions
AB  - 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. 
SN  - 1438-8871
UR  - https://www.jmir.org/2021/4/e27121
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2196/27121
UR  - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33632675
DO  - 10.2196/27121
ID  - info:doi/10.2196/27121
ER  -