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

Frontiers in Psychology

Stephanie S. Daniel¹  Parissa J. Ballard¹  Aubry N. Koehler¹  Linda Nicolotti²  Elimarie Caballero Quinones²  Min Lee³  Grace Anderson⁴ 

[1] Department of Family and Community Medicine, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC, United States;Department of Pediatrics, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC, United States;Department of Psychiatry, Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, Winston-Salem, NC, United States;Department of Psychology, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC, United States;

关键词: depression;    adolescents;    volunteering;    mental health;    treatment;    affective disorders;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fpsyg.2021.642910

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

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.

【 授权许可】

CC BY