Skip to Main Content
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Giving
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions
Faculty & Research
  • Faculty
  • Research
  • Featured Topics
  • Academic Units
  • …→
  • Harvard Business School→
  • Faculty & Research→
Publications
Publications
  • August 2020
  • Article
  • American Journal of Preventive Medicine

Volunteering and Subsequent Health and Well-Being in Older Adults: An Outcome-Wide Longitudinal Approach

By: Eric Kim, A.V. Whillans, Matt Lee, Ying Chen and Tyler VanderWeele
  • Format:Print
ShareBar

Abstract

Background: Growing evidence documents strong associations between volunteering and favorable health and well-being outcomes. However, epidemiological studies have not evaluated whether changes in volunteering are associated with subsequent health and well-being outcomes.
Methods: Data were from 12,998 participants in the Health and Retirement Study—a large, diverse, prospective, and nationally representative cohort of U.S. adults age >50. Using multiple logistic-, linear-, and generalized linear regression models, we evaluated if changes in volunteering (between t0;2006/2008 and t1;2010/2012) were associated with 35 indicators of physical health, health behaviors, and psychosocial well-being (in t2;2014/2016). Models adjusted for sociodemographics, physical health, health behaviors, psychosocial factors, personality, as well as volunteering and all outcomes in the pre-baseline wave (t0;2006/2008). Results accounted for multiple testing and data were analyzed in 2019.
Results: Over the 4-year follow-up period, participants who volunteered ≥100 hours/year (versus 0 hours/year) had reduced risk of mortality and physical functioning limitations, higher physical activity, and better psychosocial outcomes (higher: positive affect, optimism, purpose in life and lower: depressive symptoms, hopelessness, loneliness, infrequent contact with friends). Importantly, volunteering was not associated with other physical health outcomes (diabetes, hypertension, stroke, cancer, heart disease, lung disease, arthritis, overweight/obesity, cognitive impairment, chronic pain), health behaviors (binge drinking, smoking, sleep problems), and psychosocial outcomes (life satisfaction, mastery, depression, negative affect, perceived constraints, living with spouse, contact with other family/children).
Conclusions: With further research, volunteering is an activity that physicians might suggest to their willing and able patients as a way of simultaneously enhancing health and society.

Keywords

Volunteering; Prosocial Behavior; Well-being; Behavior; Health; Welfare

Citation

Kim, Eric, A.V. Whillans, Matt Lee, Ying Chen, and Tyler VanderWeele. "Volunteering and Subsequent Health and Well-Being in Older Adults: An Outcome-Wide Longitudinal Approach." American Journal of Preventive Medicine 59, no. 2 (August 2020): 176–186.
  • Find it at Harvard

About The Author

Ashley V. Whillans

Negotiation, Organizations & Markets
→More Publications

More from the Authors

    • February 13, 2023
    • Time

    The Secret Tax on Women’s Time

    By: Lauren C. Howe, Lindsay B. Howe and Ashley V. Whillans
    • December 2022
    • Current Directions in Psychological Science

    The Emotional Rewards of Prosocial Spending Are Robust and Replicable in Large Samples

    By: Lara B. Aknin, Elizabeth W. Dunn and Ashley V. Whillans
    • 2022
    • Faculty Research

    Perceived Job Difficulty Influences Unionization Support for Workers in Low-Wage Jobs

    By: Elizabeth R. Johnson and Ashley V. Whillans
More from the Authors
  • The Secret Tax on Women’s Time By: Lauren C. Howe, Lindsay B. Howe and Ashley V. Whillans
  • The Emotional Rewards of Prosocial Spending Are Robust and Replicable in Large Samples By: Lara B. Aknin, Elizabeth W. Dunn and Ashley V. Whillans
  • Perceived Job Difficulty Influences Unionization Support for Workers in Low-Wage Jobs By: Elizabeth R. Johnson and Ashley V. Whillans
ǁ
Campus Map
Harvard Business School
Soldiers Field
Boston, MA 02163
→Map & Directions
→More Contact Information
  • Make a Gift
  • Site Map
  • Jobs
  • Harvard University
  • Trademarks
  • Policies
  • Accessibility
  • Digital Accessibility
Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College