Abstract
Background: The rapid shift to remote work has heightened concerns about prolonged sedentary behavior among employees. While psychosocial safety climate (PSC) has been linked to occupational health outcomes, its longitudinal association with sedentary behavior trajectories in remote workers remains underexplored. This study examined whether PSC predicts changes in daily sedentary time over a 12-month period among full-time remote workers.Methods: A longitudinal cohort study was conducted with 847 remote workers recruited from diverse industries across three countries. Participants completed validated surveys at baseline, 6 months, and 12 months, assessing PSC (12-item scale) and self-reported occupational and leisure-time sedentary behavior. Multilevel growth curve models were estimated, adjusting for demographic, occupational, and health covariates.Results: Baseline mean daily sedentary time was 9.4 hours (SD = 2.1). Higher baseline PSC scores were significantly associated with a slower increase in sedentary behavior over time (β = -0.17, 95% CI: -0.24 to -0.10). Trajectories differed markedly between high- and low-PSC groups: workers in organizations with low PSC exhibited an average increase of 0.8 hours/day over 12 months, whereas those in high-PSC environments showed stable or slightly decreasing sedentary time. Gender, job demands, and workspace ergonomic quality emerged as significant moderators.Conclusions: A favorable psychosocial safety climate may protect remote workers from escalating sedentary behavior. Interventions that strengthen organizational PSC—through supportive leadership, low psychosocial risk, and active health promotion—could mitigate the long-term health risks of prolonged sitting in remote work contexts.