Effect of Volunteering on Risk Factors for Cardiovascular Disease in Adolescents: A Randomized Controlled Trial
Abstract
IMPORTANCE: The idea that individuals who help others incur health benefits themselves suggests a novel approach to improving health while simultaneously promoting greater civic orientation in our society. The present study is the first experimental trial, to our knowledge, of whether regular volunteering can reduce cardiovascular risk factors in adolescents. OBJECTIVE: To test a novel intervention that assigned adolescents to volunteer with elementary school-aged children as a means of improving adolescents' cardiovascular risk profiles. DESIGN: Randomized controlled trial, with measurements taken at baseline and 4 months later (postintervention). SETTING: Urban public high school in western Canada. PARTICIPANTS: One hundred six 10th-grade high school students who were fluent in English and free of chronic illnesses. INTERVENTION: Weekly volunteering with elementary school-aged children for 2 months vs wait-list control group. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Cardiovascular risk markers of C-reactive protein level, interleukin 6 level, total cholesterol level, and body mass index. RESULTS: No statistically significant group differences were found at baseline. Postintervention, adolescents in the intervention group showed significantly lower interleukin 6 levels (log10 mean difference, 0.13; 95% CI, 0.004 to 0.251), cholesterol levels (log10 mean difference, 0.03; 95% CI, 0.003 to 0.059), and body mass index (mean difference, 0.39; 95% CI, 0.07 to 0.71) compared with adolescents in the control group. Effects for C-reactive protein level were marginal (log10 mean difference, 0.13; 95% CI, -0.011 to 0.275). Preliminary analyses within the intervention group suggest that those who increased the most in empathy and altruistic behaviors, and who decreased the most in negative mood, also showed the greatest decreases in cardiovascular risk over time. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: Adolescents who volunteer to help others also benefit themselves, suggesting a novel way to improve health. TRIAL REGISTRATION clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT01698034.
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The positive impact of volunteer work on adolescents' health and school achievement may arise from the chance it gives teenagers to craft an identity based on constructive social values.
“The positive impact of volunteer work on adolescents' health and school achievement may arise from the chance it gives teenagers to craft an identity based on constructive social values (Schreier et al. 2013; see also Allen & Philliber 2001, Wilson 2011).”
From The Psychology of Change: Self-Affirmation and Social Psychological Intervention (2014) · cites this paper as Schreier et al. 2013
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“Using an experimental laboratory simulation study of civic empowerment and measuring physiologic responses, we add to an existing body of experimental studies of volunteering and helping behaviors (e.g., Schreier et al., 2013).”
MethodMeyer, M. R. U., Meyer, A. R., Wu, C., & Bernhart, J. A. (2018) · BMC Public Health · doi:10.1186/s12889-018-5559-6 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
Harnessing the Therapeutic Power of Volunteering
Alspach, J. G. (2014) · Critical Care Nurse · doi:10.4037/ccn2014239 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
Quimby, D., Richards, M. H., Onyeka, O. “., Miller, K. M., McCrea, K. T., Smith, Z. R., & Denton, D. (2022) · Youth & Society · doi:10.1177/0044118x221115761 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
“Being formally placed in a supportive role with a culturally matched younger peer in the context of other prosocial teen mentors is one way to facilitate the benefits of positive peer influence (McIntosh et al., 2005; Schreier et al., 2013).”
BackgroundYouth’s Experiences of the Devaluing of Their Contributions Due to Their Ethnicity and Gender
Fuligni, A. J., Smola, X. A., & Salek, S. A. (2022) · Journal of Youth and Adolescence · doi:10.1007/s10964-022-01617-1 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
“It also has beneficial effects on psychological and physical health through both physiological and psychological mechanisms (Schacter and Margolin, 2018; Schreier et al., 2013).”
BackgroundChen, X., & Yeung, W. J. (2026) · BMC Public Health · doi:10.1186/s12889-025-26178-3 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
Gaber, J., Parascandalo, F., Pelino, S. D., Datta, J., Lamarche, L., Begum, H., Clark, R. E., Gagnon, C., Oliver, D., Price, D., et al. (2025) · Evaluation and Program Planning · doi:10.1016/j.evalprogplan.2025.102617 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Developing the Field of Behavioral Nonprofit Management
Qu, H., & Mason, D. (2023) · Journal of Behavioral Public Administration · doi:10.30636/jbpa.61.314 · Cited by 4
“…a 12-month period than those who did not volunteer in the control condition (Jongenelis et al., 2021), although the psychological benefits were not observed at the 6-month follow up (Jiang et al., 2021; Pettigrew et al., 2019) or in student samples (Schreier et al., 2013; Whillans et al., 2016).”
BackgroundVolunteering among youth with disabilities: a population-based study
Casseus, M., Cheng, J.-F., & Cooney, J. M. (2022) · Disability and Rehabilitation · doi:10.1080/09638288.2022.2025925 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Physiological Correlates of Volunteering
Bekkers, R., Konrath, S., & Smith, D. (2016) · Palgrave Macmillan UK eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-1-137-26317-9_26 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
“This experimental study found that a four-month volunteering program had no effect on adolescents’ cortisol levels compared to a waitlist control condition (Schreier et al. 2013; Schreier 2012).”
BackgroundResultInfluentialCarlo, G., Christ, C. C., Laible, D., & Gülseven, Z. (2015) · Evolutionary psychology · doi:10.1007/978-3-319-19671-8_3 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
Support-Giving Is Associated With Lower Systemic Inflammation
Inagaki, T. K., Alvarez, G., Orehek, E., Ferrer, R. A., Manuck, S. B., Abaya, N. M., & Muscatell, K. A. (2023) · Annals of Behavioral Medicine · doi:10.1093/abm/kaac059 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
“Consistent with this observation, random assignment to support-giving conditions (vs. conditions in which no support is given) reduces sympathetic-related physiological responding [15, 25, 46] and markers of systemic inflammation [17, 21, 22].”
BackgroundDoes volunteering improve the psychosocial well-being of volunteers?
Chew, T.-W., Ong, C. S.-L., Oh, V. Y. S., & Tong, E. M. W. (2022) · Current Psychology · doi:10.1007/s12144-022-03345-y · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Hajak, V. L., Grimm, S., Gruszczyńska, E., Kroemeke, A., Józefacka, N. M., & Warner, L. M. (2025) · BMC Psychology · doi:10.1186/s40359-024-02319-y · Cited by 2 · see citing works
The contribution of community service during the transition to adulthood to health in adulthood
Wray‐Lake, L., Dunn, D., Freund, V. A., & Kloska, D. D. (2024) · Journal of Research on Adolescence · doi:10.1111/jora.12922 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
“A randomized control trial of high school students found that volunteering increased cardiovascular health (Schreier et al., 2013).”
InfluentialJones, E. J., Feinberg, M. E., Graham‐Engeland, J. E., Jones, D. E., & Schreier, H. M. C. (2023) · Biological Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.biopsycho.2023.108664 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Self-citationAllen, J. P., Loeb, E. L., Davis, A. A., Costello, M. A., & Uchino, B. N. (2022) · Journal of Behavioral Medicine · doi:10.1007/s10865-022-00334-1 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
- Authors
- Schreier, H. M. C., Schonert-Reichl, K. A., & Chen, E.
- Affiliations
- Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (US)
- University of British Columbia (CA)
- Northwestern University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Chen, Edith
- Venue
- JAMA Pediatrics
- Publisher
- American Medical Association (AMA)
- Published
- 2013-04-01
- Volume
- 167
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 327
- ISSN
- 1072-4710 (ISSN-L)
- 2168-6203
- OpenAlex
- W2018171193
- Cited by
- 169
- References
- 34
- Citations by year
- 2026: 6 · 2025: 8 · 2024: 8 · 2023: 14 · 2022: 29 · 2021: 10 · 2020: 13 · 2019: 9 · 2018: 40 · 2017: 7 · 2016: 10 · 2015: 9 · 2014: 4 · 2013: 2
- FWCI
- 25.81
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Nonprofit Sector and Volunteering
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Physical Activity and Health
- Social Sciences › Education › Service-Learning and Community Engagement
- Keywords
- volunteering, cardiovascular risk factors, adolescents, C-reactive protein, interleukin-6, cholesterol, body mass index, empathy, altruism, negative mood, citizen participation, health promotion
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adolescent Behavior, Altruism, C-Reactive Protein, Cardiovascular Diseases, Empathy, Female, Health Promotion, Humans, Interpersonal Relations, Male, Risk Factors, Self Concept, Volunteers, Interleukin-6
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