Volunteering and Metabolic Syndrome and Diabetes in Black Adolescents From Low-Income Families
Main finding · Metabolic syndrome composite score (study 1); adult diabetes (study 2)Result — go to the resultOdds ratio 0.48 95% CI 0.24–0.94Authors' conclusion
These results suggest that encouraging adolescents to volunteer may represent a novel approach to improving cardiometabolic health earlier in life and in groups that have been historically marginalized. The notion that volunteering might help not only the recipients of volunteering efforts, but also the volunteers themselves, suggests the possibility of creating a 2-way street of benefits through a single activity that could promote health across groups while also strengthening the social fabric across communities.
Study context
- Population
- Black adolescents from lower-income households; study 1: ages 14–19 years, households <2 times the poverty threshold, 2018 to 2022; study 2: ages 11–20 years, low-income families, 1994 to 2008study 1: 400
- Exposure
- Volunteering vs no volunteering during adolescence
- Outcome
- Study 1: metabolic syndrome (counts of components above clinical cutoffs; composite z scores); study 2: diabetes diagnosis at age 29
Methodological details2 samples: cross-sectional study (study 1) and 14-year longitudinal study (study 2)
- 2 samples: cross-sectional study (study 1) and 14-year longitudinal study (study 2)
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
- Score (study 1)
- Adult diabetes (study 2)
Odds ratio
0.48
95% CI 0.24–0.94
P = 0.03
- Study 1: higher volunteering frequency associated with lower metabolic syndrome composite score (b; SE 0.03; P = .03)
- −0.06
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Further findings
Mediators of volunteering–metabolic syndrome association (study 1)
- Purpose in life, but not physical activity or depressive symptoms, statistically mediated the association
Original publication
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