The Transformative Power of Reading: Leisure, Culture, and Mental Well-Being Across the Lifespan

Contemporary societies are undergoing profound cultural, technological, and educational transformations that affect the ways individuals engage with reading. The coexistence of print and digital formats, the rise of new reading practices, and the influence of cultural platforms intersect with fast paced lifestyles, creating a complex landscape that demands critical attention. Understanding reading as a cognitive, cultural, emotional, and social experience is essential for assessing its contribution to health and, particularly, to mental well-being across the lifespan.Reading functions as a cultural practice tied to personal growth, emotional regulation, and identity formation. Beyond its utilitarian value, it serves as a meaningful leisure activity that offers enjoyment, escape, social connection, and creative expression. Regular engagement with literary and cultural materials has been shown to support mental health, strengthen empathy, and nurture socio‑emotional skills. These benefits become especially significant in contexts marked by vulnerability or inequality, where cultural access is limited and mental health outcomes may be at greater risk.At the same time, new digital reading ecologies are transforming how texts are accessed, shared, and mediated. Digital environments enable inclusion, personalization, and community participation, while also introducing challenges such as unequal access, varying digital competencies, and information overload, all of which can influence psychological well-being. Addressing these dynamics requires interdisciplinary perspectives from education, social sciences, psychology, cultural studies, and digital humanities.Recent literature highlights the need to deepen our understanding of how reading contributes to well-being at different stages of the life course: from childhood, when it supports cognitive and socio‑emotional development, to adulthood and older age, when it can function as a tool for cognitive maintenance, social participation, quality of life, and sustained mental health. Moreover, reading acts as an intergenerational bridge that facilitates cultural, emotional, and symbolic exchange among people of different ages, strengthening family and community bonds and contributing to shared identity-building. Nonetheless, significant gaps remain regarding reading inequalities, the differential effects of digital reading, the role of mediating institutions, and how reading practices are integrated into contemporary lifestyles—issues that are often inherently linked to mental health outcomes.This Research Topic positions itself at the intersection of reading, leisure, culture, education, and mental well-being, with the aim of providing a scientific space for analysing the multiple dimensions that converge in this relationship. We invite contributions that explore:• Reading as a meaningful leisure practice.• The relationship between reading, well-being, and mental health.• The role of educational and cultural institutions in promoting reading habits.• Reading mediation in formal, non-formal, and informal contexts.• Reading inequalities and cultural gaps.• Digital reading and its effects on contemporary cultural and psychological experiences.• Reading as a tool for constructing individual and collective identity.• Reading, social cohesion, and community cultural participation.• Reading as a resource for social and relational well-being.• New reading ecologies and their implications for cultural inclusion and mental health.• Interactions between reading, culture, and development across the lifespan.Overall, this Research Topic seeks to expand our understanding of the social, educational, and cultural value of reading, highlighting its transformative potential for building more critical, creative, cohesive, and mentally healthy societies. It likewise aims to identify strategies, practices, and interventions that may enhance the power of reading as a driver of individual and community well-being throughout life. Topic editors: María Ángeles Valdemoros San Emeterio, Rosa Ana Alonso Ruiz, Cristina Medrano Pascual, Aneider Iza Erviti Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/80215/the-transformative-power-of-reading-leisure-culture-and-mental-well-being-across-the-lifespan