• Dorota Weziak-Bialowolska and Piotr Bialowolski.
• Centre for Evaluation and Analysis of Public Policies, Faculty of Philosophy, Jagiellonian University, Cracow, Poland; Human Flourishing Program, Harvard Institute for Quantitative Social Science, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Electronic address: doweziak@iq.harvard.edu.
• Am J Prev Med. 2024 Apr 1; 66 (4): 645654645-654.

IntroductionSalutogenic effects of volunteering and helping activities have been well recognized in the pre-COVID-19 era. This study examines associations between helping others as well as additional volunteer activities during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic and 6 psychological distress and well-being outcomes one year later.MethodsLongitudinal data collected between 2019 and 2021 were used. Analyses were based on data from 42,005 middle-aged and older adults from 27 European countries who participated in the Survey of Health, Ageing, and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) and two SHARE Corona Surveys. Prospective associations were examined using generalized estimating equations. A series of secondary analyses and the sensitivity of the associations to unmeasured confounding provided evidence for the robustness of results. All analyses were conducted in December 2022.ResultsHelping others outside one's home in the first wave of COVID-19 was associated with subsequent increased risks of depression and anxiety. It was concurrently associated with an increased probability of an uplifting, hope, and happiness-inducing experience. Engagement in volunteer activities conducted in addition to helping was found to be prospectively associated with higher probability of an uplifting experience, but not with depression and anxiety. These associations were independent of demographic and socioeconomic characteristics, personality traits, prior quality of life and health history as well as pre-COVID-19 engagement in altruistic activities.ConclusionsHelping and volunteering during the COVID-19 pandemic likely led to positive experiences. However, a negative impact on psychological distress of the same activities was also noted.Copyright © 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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