A Latent Deprivation Perspective: Mechanisms Linking Volunteering to Mental Health in Later Life.

Abstract

This study tests the hypothesis that the latent deprivation model (LDM) can be extended to volunteer work, by exploring the extent to which two potential latent benefits of volunteer work-purpose in life and perceived social status-mediate the negative relationship between volunteerism and mental health (measured as depressive symptoms). Structural equation modeling with the full-information maximum likelihood (FIML) was adopted to model a sample of 5887 respondents from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS). The outcome was depressive symptoms; the independent variable was volunteering; and the mediators were "purpose in life" and "perceived social status." Findings show that purpose in life and perceived social status partially mediated the relationship between volunteering and depressive symptoms, with purpose in life having a more substantial effect than perceived social status. Implications for future research and practice are also discussed.