Voluntary Association Membership and Psychological Distress

John Rietschlin

130 citations0/0 files storedJournal of Health and Social Behavior

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Health disparities and outcomes Nonprofit Sector and Volunteering Social Capital and Networks

Abstract

Does voluntary association reduce psychological distress and can these effects be distinguished from the more commonly recognized benefits of social support? This paper attempts to answer this question by reporting the results of an investigation, guided by the stress process model, into the effects of voluntary group membership on psychological distress. I conducted this research through a secondary analysis of a community sample of 850 persons residing in southwestern Ontario in 1984. I find that voluntary group membership results in a reduction in depressive symptoms for men and women ranging in age from 22-89. In addition, voluntary group members suffer lower levels of depressive symptoms in the presence of increasing stress burdens than do those who are not group members, indicating stress buffering effects. Controlling for individual psychosocial resources including mastery, self-esteem, and social support does not reduce these effects, thus leading to the conclusion that voluntary association membership itself makes a unique contribution to distress reduction.

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References

1977The CES-D Scale 1978The Structure of Coping 1981The Stress Process 1979Conceiving the self 1991Religious Involvement and Subjective Well-Being 1995The Epidemiology of Social Stress 1981Preliminary development of a scale of social support: Studies on college students 1987Religious Involvement and the Health of the Elderly: Some Hypotheses and an Initial Test

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