Table 5.
Psychological benefits. Displayed in brackets are the number of primary included studies to support the review findings. Where no brackets are provided, findings are the result of meta-analyses
| Review | Positive outcomes (number of studies) | Negative or non-significant outcomes | AMSTAR 2 rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anderson et al. (2014) |
Improvement in mood in women but not men (1) Reduced depression (cross-sectional: 4, prospective cohort: 15) Increased positive affect or happiness (descriptive: 1, prospective: 4, cross-sectional: 5) Greater life satisfaction (descriptive: 2, cross sectional: 6, prospective cohort: 2) Improvements in self-esteem or a sense of mastery (descriptive: 5, prospective cohort 2) Feeling useful and self-fulfilled (1 descriptive) Greater resilience (1 cross sectional) |
No association with happiness (1 cross-sectional, 1 prospective) No association with life satisfaction (1 cross-sectional although the timescale of volunteering was short, 1 prospective although the follow-up was long) No association with improvements in self-esteem or a sense of mastery (2 cross sectional studies, 1 prospective cohort) |
− 10 |
| Cattan et al. (2011) |
Reduction in depression (6), in women but not men (1) Improved psychological well-being (1) Improved psychological well-being (3) Greater life satisfaction (2) |
− 10 | |
| Chen et al. (2020) |
Increased positive outlook/affect (2) Increased life satisfaction (1) Decreased distress (1) and depression (2) Increased happiness and optimism (1) Increased self-esteem (2) Increased purposefulness/usefulness (2) Increased motivation (1) For volunteering in recycling specifically: Increased self-compassion (2) Reduced depression (2) Increased happiness (2) Increased positive affect and decreased negative affect (1) Increased life satisfaction (1) |
9 | |
| Conway et al. (2009) | Self-evaluations | − 20 | |
| Farrell & Bryant (2009) |
Decreased depression in older adults (1) Increased mental health and well-being (1) Increased life satisfaction for adults with disabilities (1) improved confidence and feeling valued (1) Empowerment and pride for adolescents with disabilities (1) Built confidence (2) Increased satisfaction (1) Increased self-esteem (4) Increased empowerment in people with mental health problems (1) |
No effect on depression in younger age groups (1) 22% reported a negative impact on their mental health (1) |
− 15 |
| Filges et al. (2020) | Small but significant overall decrease in severity of depression | 30 | |
| Galbraith et al. (2015) |
Children felt helpful (1) Older people: Increased sense of purpose and usefulness (2) Joy derived from teaching children (1) Increased confidence and self-esteem, feeling loved (1) Renewed sense of usefulness (2) Decreased anxiety (2) Increased positive affect (1) |
− 10 | |
| Giraudeau & Bailly (2019) |
Older adults: Increased empowerment score (1) Fewer depressive symptoms and better mental health (1) |
||
| Goethem et al. (2014) |
Small but significant effect on attitudes towards the self and personal competence Personal and self(related): concept, attitudes, preferences, experiences, motivations, well-being, self-efficacy (15) |
− 4 | |
| Gualano et al. (2018) |
Significantly increased meaningfulness (1) Significantly decrease in stress (1) |
No significant changes in depressive symptoms (1) | 9 |
| Höing et al. (2016) |
Volunteering in general: Increased self-reported happiness (2) Increased life satisfaction and less negative affect and depression (7) An improved sense of purpose and accomplishment (2) Increased empowerment and self-esteem (5) Volunteers for sex offenders: Witnessing the core member changing for the better increased satisfied feeling of reward (1) |
Decreased life satisfaction (1), overburdening and strain with high hours volunteering (1) Emotional exhaustion and burnout symptoms (6) (although these were generally not alarming symptoms (3)) Volunteering with sex offenders: Stress, rumination, worries of risk and feeling unsafe (1) Volunteers for sex offenders: Doubts about the motivation and effort of the core member produced emotional stress, irritation, frustration, and hopelessness (1) Increased depression and emotional problems when volunteering involved empathic over-arousal (e.g., in HIV— caregiving) (1) |
− 7 |
| Howard & Serviss (2022) | Significantly increased job satisfaction with organisational-level volunteering participation | No significant increase in life satisfaction with employee-level volunteering participation | − 17 |
| Jenkinson et al., 2013 |
Significantly increased empowerment (1) Significantly decreased stress (1) Decreased levels of depression (4 cohort) Improved life satisfaction (4 cohorts) (follow-ups between 3 and 25 years) Improved self-efficacy (1 cohort) |
No between-group differences in depression (3 RCTs) No significant differences in self-esteem (1 RCT and 2 non-RCTs) No significant effect on purpose in life (2) No significant effects for sense of usefulness (1 trial) No significant effects for sense loneliness (1 trial) No reduction in depression (2 cohort) No effect on life satisfaction (1 cohort) No effect on happiness (1 cohort) |
17 |
| Kragt & Holtrop (2019) |
Volunteers were more extroverted, optimistic and perceived a greater sense of control in their lives compared to non-volunteers (1) Significant increase in mood states (1) Improved self-confidence when looking after patients with dementia (1) |
− 15 | |
| Lovell et al. (2015) | Increase in mental health and well-being states (3) | No impact or significant improvement in mental health (1) | 0 |
| Manjunath & Manoj (2021) |
Increased life satisfaction (1) Decreased likelihood of dementia treatment (1) Increased happiness (1) |
− 11 | |
| Marco-Gardoqui et al. (2020) |
Improved self-esteem and self-confidence (11) Increased motivation (4) Improved self-efficacy (3) Feeling of pride (2) |
5 | |
| Milbourn et al. (2018) |
Increase in psychological domain of quality of life (1) Significant increase in psychological quality of life when volunteering between one and 10 h of monthly (above that there was no effect) (1) Decreased depression (1) Slower decline in psychological well-being when volunteering under 100 h per year (1) Slower decline in mental health (1) Significantly increased life satisfaction when volunteering over 7 h weekly (1) |
No increase in psychological well-being (combination of life satisfaction and mental health scores) compared to non-volunteers (1) | − 8 |
| Onyx & Warburton (2003) |
Improved self-esteem (1) Improved coping with stress (1) Improved adjustment to critical life events (2) Increased life satisfaction and decreased depression and anxiety (1) |
||
| Owen et al., (2022) |
Significant improvement in life satisfaction (1) Significant decrease in anxiety compared to active controls (1) |
No significant decrease in depression compared to active controls (1) | 5 |
| Bonsdorff & Rantanen (2011) |
Decreased depression (6 prospective) Significant increase in life satisfaction (1) |
− 14 | |
| Wheeler et al (1998) | Significant increase in life satisfaction such that 70% of volunteers enjoy greater life satisfaction than the average non-volunteer. Adjusted for covariates reduced but did not diminish the effect | − 17 | |
| Willems et al. (2020) |
High overall satisfaction (5) Feelings of altruism (2) Feeling useful (1) Increased purpose in life (1) Personal growth (1) Gratefulness (2) |
3% of participants showed suicidal ideation (1) 22% of volunteers met criteria for a psychiatric diagnosis (1) More than 50% reported feeling burnout at some point (1) 77% showed symptoms of compassion fatigue (1) 46% scored high on disruptions of self-belief (1) Increased subjective distress (2) Increased post-shift stress (1) |
1 |