96. The role of color psychology in alleviating workplace stress through office space design: a randomized controlled trial

Abstract Background Mental health issues among high-stress occupational groups are becoming increasingly prominent, with chronic stress leading to anxiety, depression, and reduced work efficiency. As the physical environment where employees spend over eight hours daily, office spaces exert a significant influence on psychological well-being through their color design. Existing studies are largely theoretical and lack validation through randomized controlled trials (RCTs). To address this gap, this study focuses on high-stress individuals and employs an RCT to investigate the mechanisms by which specific color schemes alleviate stress, improve mood, and enhance job satisfaction, thereby providing empirical evidence for human-centered office space design. Methods This parallel-group RCT was conducted from March 2024 to January 2025, recruiting 120 high-stress employees (PSS-10 ≥ 22) from five large metropolitan corporations. Participants were randomized via computer-generated sequences to intervention (n = 60) and control (n = 60) groups with no significant baseline differences in demographics or psychological indicators (p>.05). Intervention offices underwent systematic renovation featuring low-saturation blue-green walls (lightness 65-75, saturation 20%-30%), warm yellow rest-area accents (lightness 75-85), and standardized 4000 K work lighting. Controls maintained conventional gray-white tones. Comprehensive assessments using the Perceived Stress Scale-10 (PSS-10), State–Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire (MSQ), and salivary cortisol as an objective biomarker were performed at baseline, 4, 8, 12 weeks, and 6-month follow-up. SPSS 26.0 conducted repeated measures ANOVA, independent samples t-tests, and chi-square tests, with p