Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 May 5:12:642910.
doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.642910. eCollection 2021.

Incorporating Volunteering Into Treatment for Depression Among Adolescents: Developmental and Clinical Considerations

Parissa J Ballard  1 , Stephanie S Daniel  1 , Grace Anderson  2 , Linda Nicolotti  3 , Elimarie Caballero Quinones  3 , Min Lee  4 , Aubry N Koehler  1
Affiliations

Incorporating Volunteering Into Treatment for Depression Among Adolescents: Developmental and Clinical Considerations

Parissa J Ballard et al. Front Psychol. .

Abstract

Volunteering, or taking part in unpaid work for the benefit of others, can be a powerful positive experience with returns to both individual well-being and community projects. Volunteering is positively associated with mental health in observational studies with community samples but has not been systematically examined as a potential part of treatment interventions with clinical adolescent samples. In this manuscript, we review the empirical evidence base connecting volunteerism to mental health and well-being, outline potential mechanisms based in the theoretical literature from developmental science, and discuss the existing clinical approaches that support community volunteering as a part of treatment. Drawing on this review, we propose that including volunteering as a component of clinical treatment approaches for adolescent depression can be a powerful intervention for adolescents.

Keywords: adolescents; affective disorders; depression; mental health; treatment; volunteering.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Prosposed mechanisms/clinical targets whereby volunteering affects depressive symptoms.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Anderson N. D., Damianakis T., Kröger E., Wagner L. M., Dawson D. R., Binns M. A., et al. . (2014). The benefits associated with volunteering among seniors: a critical review and recommendations for future research. Psychol. Bull. 140, 1505–1533. 10.1037/a0037610, PMID: - DOI - PubMed
    1. Ballard P. J., Lindsay T. H., Pachucki M. C. (2019). Impacts of adolescent and young adult civic engagement on health and socioeconomic status in adulthood. Child Dev. 90, 1138–1154. 10.1111/cdev.12998, PMID: - DOI - PubMed
    1. Ballard P. J., Syme S. L. (2015). Engaging youth in communities: a framework for promoting adolescent and community health. J. Epidemiol. Community Health 70, 202–206. 10.1136/jech-2015-206110, PMID: - DOI - PubMed
    1. Beck A. T. (1967). Cognitive Therapy of Depression. NY: Guilford press.
    1. Beck J. S. (2011). Cognitive Behavior Therapy: Basics and Beyond. NY: Guilford Press.

LinkOut - more resources