Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-2brh9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T12:39:22.188Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Volunteering as a predictor of all-cause mortality: what aspects of volunteering really matter?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 April 2008

Liat Ayalon
Liat Ayalon*
Affiliation:
School of Social Work, Faculty of Social Sciences, Bar Ilan University, Israel
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: Dr. Liat Ayalon, Bar Ilan University, Faculty of Social Sciences, School of Social Work, Ramat Gan, Israel52900. Phone: +972 3 531 7567; Fax: +972 3 738 4042. Email: [email protected].
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Background: This study evaluates the predictive effects of different aspects of volunteering (e.g. volunteering status, number of hours, number of years, and type of volunteering activity) on all-cause mortality.

Methods: A seven-year follow-up dataset of a nationally representative sample of Israelis, 60 years and older was used.

Results: As expected, volunteering was associated with a reduced mortality risk even after adjusting for age, gender, education, baseline mental health and physical health, activity level, and social engagement. Those who volunteered for 10 to 14 years had a reduced mortality risk relative to non-volunteers. In addition, those who volunteered privately, not as part of an official organization, also had a reduced mortality risk compared to non-volunteers. The number of hours of volunteering was not a significant predictor of all-cause mortality in the fully adjusted model. In additional sensitivity analyses limited to those who volunteered, none of the various aspects of volunteering was associated with a reduced mortality risk.

Conclusions: Results suggest that not all aspects of volunteering have the same predictive value and that the protective effects of length of volunteering time and type of volunteering are particularly important. However, whether or not volunteering is the most consistent predictor of mortality and whether once a person volunteers the various aspects of volunteering are no longer associated with mortality risk.

Keywords

deathrole theorycontinuity theoryrole strainactivity theoryresilience
Type
Research Article
Information
International Psychogeriatrics , Volume 20 , Issue 5 , October 2008 , pp. 1000 - 1013
Copyright
Copyright © International Psychogeriatric Association 2008

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Adelmann, P. K. (1994a). Multiple roles and physical health among older adults. Research on Aging, 16, 142–154.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Adelmann, P. K. (1994b). Multiple roles and psychological well-being in a national sample of older adults. Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences, 49, S277–S285.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Atchley, R. C. (1989). A continuity theory of normal aging. Gerontologist, 29, 183–190.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Baron, R. M. and Kenny, D. A. (1986). The moderator-mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51, 1173–1182.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chambre, S. M. (1987). Good Deeds in an Old Age: Volunteering by the New Leisure Class. Lexington, MA: Lexington Books.Google Scholar
Fried, L. P. et al. (2004). A social model for health promotion for an aging population: initial evidence on the Experience Corps model. Journal of Urban Health, 83, 941–953.Google Scholar
Goldberg, D. P. and Williams, P. (1988). A User's Guide to the General Health Questionnaire. Windsor: NFER-Nelson.Google Scholar
Goode, W. J. (1960). A theory of role strain. American Sociological Review, 25, 483–296.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Greenfield, E. A. and Marks, N. F. (2004). Formal volunteering as a protective factor for older adults' psychological well-being. Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences, 59B, S258–S264.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gubrium, J. (1973). The Myth of the Golden Years: A Socio-environmental Theory of Aging. Springfield, IL: Charles C Thomas.Google Scholar
Harris, A. S. and Thoresen, C. E. (2005). Volunteering is associated with delayed mortality in older people: analysis of the longitudinal study of aging. Journal of Health Psychology, 10, 739–752.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Herzog, A. R., and House, J. S. (1991). Productive activity and aging well. Generations, 15, 49–54.Google Scholar
Herzog, A. R., House, J. S. and Morgan, J. N. (1990). The Relation of Work Activity to Health and Well-being among Older Americans: Longitudinal Analyses. Research report. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Survey Research Center.Google Scholar
House, J. S., Landes, K. R. and Umbertson, R. (1988). Social relationships and health. Science, 240, 540–545.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Israel Central Bureau of Statistics (1985). A Survey of Persons Aged 60+ in 1985: Health and Health Service Use. Special Publication no. 868. Jerusalem: Israel Central Bureau of Statistics (available in Hebrew).Google Scholar
Katz, S., Downs, T. D., Cash, H. R. and Grotz, E. C. (1970). Progress in development of the index of ADL. Gerontologist, 10, 20–30.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lawton, M. P. and Brody, E. M. (1969). Assessment of older people: self-maintaining and instrumental activities of daily living. Gerontologist, 9, 179–186.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lemon, B. W., Bengtson, V. L. and Peterson, J. A. (1972). An exploration of the activity theory of aging: activity types and life satisfaction among in-movers to a retirement community. Journal of Gerontology, 27, 511–523.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Louh, M-C. and Herzog, A. R. (2002). Individual consequences of volunteer and paid work in old age: health and mortality. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 43, 490–509.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Merton, R. K. (1957). Social Theory and Social Structure. New York: Free Press.Google Scholar
Midlarsky, E. and Kahana, E. (1994). Altruism in Late Life. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Moen, P., Dempster-McClain, D. and WilliamsR. M., Jr. R. M., Jr. (1992). Successful aging: a life course perspective on women's multiple roles and health. American Journal of Sociology, 97, 1612–1638.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Morrow-Howell, N., Hinterlong, J., Rozario, P. A. and Tang, F. (2003). Effects of volunteering on the well-being of older adults. Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences, 58B, S137–S145.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Musick, M. A., Herzog, R. and House, J. S. (1999). Volunteering and mortality among older adults: findings from a national sample. Journal of Gerontology, 54B, S173–180.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Oman, D., Thoresen, C. E. and McMahon, K. (1999). Volunteerism and mortality among community-dwelling elderly. Journal of Health Psychology, 4, 301–316.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pearlin, L. I. (1983). Role strain and personal stress. In:Kaplan, H. B. (ed.), Psychological Stress: Trends in Theory and Research (pp. 3–32). New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Schulz, R. and Beach, S. R. (1999). Caregiving as a risk factor for mortality: the caregiving health effect study. JAMA, 282, 2215–2219.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shmotkin, D., Blunmstein, T. and Modan, B. (2003). Beyond keeping active: concomitants of being a volunteer in old-old age. Psychology and Aging, 18, 602–607.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sundeen, R. A. (1992). Differences in the personal goals and attitudes among volunteers. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 21, 271–291.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tan, E. J., Xue, Q. L., Li, T., Carlson, M. C. and Fried, L. P. (2006). Volunteering: a physical activity intervention for older adults – the Experience Corps Program in Baltimore. Journal of Urban Health, 83, 954–969.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
van Willigen, M. (2000). Differential benefits of volunteering across the life course. Journal of Gerontology, Series B, S5, S308–S318.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wheeler, J. A., Gorey, K. M. and Greenblatt, B. (1998). The beneficial effects of volunteering for older volunteers and the people they serve: a meta-analysis. International Journal of Human Development, 47, 69–79.Google ScholarPubMed
Young, F. W. and Glasgow, N. (1998). Voluntary social participation and health. Research on Aging, 20, 339–362.CrossRefGoogle Scholar