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    Aspects of formal volunteering that contribute to favourable psychological outcomes in older adults

    Access Status
    Open access via publisher
    Authors
    Jongenelis, Michelle
    Jackson, B.
    Warburton, J.
    Newton, R.U.
    Pettigrew, Simone
    Date
    2022
    Type
    Journal Article
    
    Metadata
    Show full item record
    Citation
    Jongenelis, M.I. and Jackson, B. and Warburton, J. and Newton, R.U. and Pettigrew, S. 2022. Aspects of formal volunteering that contribute to favourable psychological outcomes in older adults. European Journal of Ageing. 19 (1): pp. 107-116.
    Source Title
    European Journal of Ageing
    DOI
    10.1007/s10433-021-00618-6
    Additional URLs
    https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8881533/
    ISSN
    1613-9372
    Faculty
    Faculty of Health Sciences
    School
    School of Psychology
    EnAble Institute
    Funding and Sponsorship
    http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DP140100365
    http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DP140100365
    URI
    http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/90983
    Collection
    • Curtin Research Publications
    Abstract

    Although there is a large body of evidence documenting the benefits of engagement in formal volunteering among older people, research assessing the specific aspects of the volunteering experience that are associated with these benefits is limited. Accordingly, the objective of this study was to (i) examine the aspects of volunteering that predict improvements or declines in older people’s psychological outcomes over time and (ii) assess the extent to which demographic characteristics and time spent engaging in informal volunteering moderate the relationship between aspects of volunteering and potential outcomes. At Time 1, non-volunteering Australian older adults completed measures assessing their subjective well-being, eudemonic well-being, and psychological resources and were asked to commence volunteering. At Time 2 (six months later), participants completed the same measures and reported on their volunteering experiences. Among the 108 older adults who provided usable data at both time points (average age = 69.86 years, 64% women), the degree to which participants felt overwhelmed by their volunteer work significantly predicted declines in subjective well-being and psychological resources. The perceived importance of the cause for which participants reported volunteering and the perceived meaningfulness of the specific activities undertaken predicted improvements in these outcomes. Volunteering roles for older adults that (i) are not considered overwhelming, (ii) fulfil their desire to volunteer for a cause about which they are genuinely concerned, and (iii) involve activities perceived to be meaningful are likely to produce the favourable psychological outcomes.

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