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. 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.

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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

References

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