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Cited by 188

Volunteering by older adults and risk of mortality: A meta-analysis.

Okun, Morris A., Yeung, Ellen WanHeung, Brown, Stephanie·2013·Psychology and Aging
DOI 10.1037/a0031519
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Abstract

Organizational volunteering has been touted as an effective strategy for older adults to help themselves while helping others. Extending previous reviews, we carried out a meta-analysis of the relation between organizational volunteering by late-middle-aged and older adults (minimum age = 55 years old) and risk of mortality. We focused on unadjusted effect sizes (i.e., bivariate relations), adjusted effect sizes (i.e., controlling for other variables such as health), and interaction effect sizes (e.g., the joint effect of volunteering and religiosity). For unadjusted effect sizes, on average, volunteering reduced mortality risk by 47%, with a 95% confidence interval ranging from 38% to 55%. For adjusted effect sizes, on average, volunteering reduced mortality risk by 24%, with a 95% confidence interval ranging from 16% to 31%. For interaction effect sizes, we found preliminary support that as public religiosity increases, the inverse relation between volunteering and mortality risk becomes stronger. The discussion identifies several unresolved issues and directions for future research.

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Crossref · 10.1037/a0031519

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  • Volunteering is associated with beneficial mental, social, and physical health outcomes, including higher wellbeing, lower distress, greater social connectedness, better functional health, and, in some longitudinal studies, lower mortality risk.

    “A growing body of research indicates that volunteering is associated with beneficial mental, social, and physical health outcomes, including higher wellbeing, lower distress, greater social connectedness, better functional health, and, in some longitudinal studies, lower mortality risk (21–24).”

    From Volunteerism as a multidimensional form of human prosocial engagement (2026) · cites this paper as [24]

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Authors
Okun, M. A., Yeung, E. W., & Brown, S.
Venue
Psychology and Aging
Publisher
American Psychological Association (APA)
Published
2013-06
Volume
28
Issue
2
Pages
564-577
ISSN
  • 1939-1498
  • 0882-7974
DOI
10.1037/a0031519
Cited by
188
References
5
Language
en

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