Female employees at two universities completed online surveys (n = 156; mean age, 45.12 [SD = 12.5]; mean BMI, 26.7 kg/m2 [SD = 5.9]; mean work hours/week, 43.7 [SD = 9.4]). Bivariate correlations and two hierarchical regression analyses were conducted to examine personal and behavioral correlates of weekday and weekend leisure sitting time.
Final regression models revealed that greater weekday leisure sitting time (R2 = 0.307) was related with being older (p = .006), having fewer children (p = .001), self-reporting poorer health (p = .006), and greater weekend sitting time (p < .001). Greater weekend leisure sitting time (R2 = 0.261) was related with greater work-related sitting time (p = .020) and greater weekday leisure sitting time (p < .001). Physical activity was not related with weekday or weekend leisure sitting time.
The most prominent correlates of leisure sitting time were other types of sedentary behaviors. This suggests that sedentary time in one segment of life predicts time spent sitting in other areas of life. Future interventions should target decreasing sedentary behaviors during leisure time specifically, in addition to increasing physical activity behavior.