Advancing Empirical Research on Volunteering and Its Impact on Individual Health and Well-Being

Volunteering is the practice of freely giving time, skills, and energy to support non-profit causes, organisations, or individuals without financial gain. It is a voluntary act intended to benefit the community or the environment. Several empirical studies have found that volunteering is positively associated with individual health, well-being, life satisfaction, and social connectedness. These findings position volunteering as both a health-promoting intervention and a social determinant of health. However, most of these studies have used data collected as part of observational studies, which may have limited the ability to establish causal effects of volunteering on the outcomes. This is because numerous socio-demographic, human capital, and social capital factors are associated with both volunteering and health outcomes. Thus, there is substantial confounding and selection bias, limiting the assessment of causal associations.In light of these challenges, this Research Topic welcomes both robust association studies that use rigorous analytical adjustments and studies that advance causal inference. This Research Topic welcomes empirical contributions from high-, middle-, and low-income countries, particularly those examining cross-national and contextual variation in the individual-level health impacts of volunteering.This Research Topic invites empirical submissions that provide rigorous statistical quantitative methods analyses of the relationship between volunteering and individual health and well-being outcomes. Submissions consisting solely of conceptual or theoretical discussion will not be considered.We particularly encourage studies that:• Quantify associations between volunteering and physical, mental, and social health outcomes• Examine causal mechanisms and pathways• Identify socio-demographic, socio-economic, human capital, and social capital moderators• Explore contextual and cross-country variation• Apply advanced quantitative methods or methodological innovationsThis Research Topic aims to generate state-of-the-art empirical evidence on the individual-level health effects of volunteering across diverse global contexts. We hope that the papers collected and published on this topic will provide policy-relevant evidence to inform the design and implementation of volunteer programmes as health-promoting interventions. Topic editors: SAMUEL OM MANDA, Njeri Wabiri, Jacob Mwathi Mati Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/77133/advancing-empirical-research-on-volunteering-and-its-impact-on-individual-health-and-well-being