Possible associations of gender, age, and participation in volunteer activities with altruistic behavior of Chinese adolescents were investigated. A representative sample of 1,105 Hong Kong Chinese adolescents (457 boys, 648 girls) were recruited from 20 schools. Results of multiple regression analyses indicated that there was a positive age effect on altruistic behavior. In addition, a positiv...

BACKGROUND Communities and nations seeking to foster social responsibility in their youth are interested in understanding factors that predict and promote youth involvement in public activities. Orphans and separated children (OSC) are a vulnerable population whose numbers are increasing, particularly in resource-poor settings. Understanding whether and how OSC are engaged in civic activities i...

OBJECTIVE Faced with aging societies, there is an immense need to better understand the nature of volunteering outside advanced Western industrial countries. As a case of a rapidly aging society, we identify robust factors associated with elderly volunteering in Korea in terms of a resource framework. METHODS Data were derived from the Social Statistics Survey conducted by the Korea National ...

Science teachers can lack pedagogic skill and confidence in handling multifaceted socio-scientific issues. This project has explored the development, implementation and evaluation of a ‘cross-curricular’ day as a suitable vehicle in 8 different schools for both engaging 14-16 year old pupils in active consideration of social aspects of genetics and enabling science and humanities teachers to co...

This study focused on the role of volunteer work for daily recovery from work. In a 1-week diary study with 166 employees, we assessed the amount of time spent on volunteer work during leisure time, and the recovery facets of psychological detachment from work (i.e., mentally switching off from work), mastery experiences (i.e., pursuing challenging activities), and community experiences (i.e., ...

Using two waves of panel data from the National Survey of Midlife in the United States (MIDUS), we examine the relationship between volunteer work and three dimensions of well-being: hedonic (e.g., positive mood), eudemonic (e.g., purpose in life), and social (e.g., feeling of belonging to the community). We test for the effects of volunteering measured as a binary and a continuous variable. Re...

BACKGROUND Befriending has become a widely used method for tackling social isolation in individuals with severe mental illness (SMI), and evidence exists to support its effectiveness. However, patient preferences for befriending remain unclear. We aimed to determine whether patients with SMI want a volunteer befriender and, if so, the volunteer characteristics and character of the relationship ...

The purpose of this study was to characterize the average dental school applicant's participation in four nonacademic areas: shadowing, extracurricular activities, volunteer experiences, and research. Demographic, academic, and nonacademic information was compared for 12 percent of all applicants to U.S. dental schools in 2005. Applicants had an average GPA of 3.23 and DAT Academic Average of 1...