What if youth engagement in civic activities—volunteering, activism, and advocacy—did more than help communities? What if it also improved the mental health of volunteers? While traditional approaches to mental health include psychotherapy, cognitive behavioural therapy, and pharmacological treatments, some McGill researchers are exploring how civic involvement can contribute to positive mental health outcomes among young people.
In a recent publication in the Adolescent Research Review, Anthony Sciola, a fifth-year PhD student in McGill’s Applied Child Psychology program and member of the Youth Suicide Prevention Lab, examined how civic engagement affects youth mental health outcomes. Sciola’s desire to investigate this topic developed from a broader interest in identifying alternative ways to support and improve individuals’ mental health.
“I always wanted to find something where mental health professionals are not the only source to help people,” Sciola said in an interview with The Tribune. “We always hear about physical activity, therapy, or pharmacological interventions as being something that will help mental health, right? So [I thought], what can civic engagement, getting involved in the community, do for mental health?”
Sciola’s study compiled 13 longitudinal studies—which follow a group of individuals over a substantial period of time—into a systematic review. Volunteering was the most studied civic activity, and depressive symptoms were the most investigated mental health outcome. He explained that separating civic engagement activities into individual subcategories yielded significant results when assessing their effects on mental health.
“Some studies grouped a bunch of civic engagement activities into one construct, and when they did this, the results were usually not significant,” Sciola said. “It’s really when they were separating the activities, like looking at volunteering, activism, and political engagement [separately that] we really started to see something [significant].”
Sciola found that volunteering seems to be the most beneficial for youths’ mental health, which is not surprising as this type of activity is known to foster a sense of belonging and purpose, and increase positive social interactions.
Sciola also pointed out the bidirectional association between mental health and civic engagement, where a particular state of mental health can impact one’s level of civic pursuit.
“People who had better mental health scores were more likely to engage in civic activities,” Sciola noted. “But again, it really depends on the specific activity you participate in.”
In a follow-up study, Sciola examined five different civic engagement variables—volunteering, charitable actions, political engagement, activism, and community involvement—to further examine this association.
“Our [follow-up] study found that youth at 20 years old who volunteered or participated in charitable actions were found to have less depressive symptoms three years later,” he said.
However, other activities, such as political engagement or activism, tended to produce more complex results.
“We also found that participating in activism actually produced higher depressive symptoms three years later,” Sciola said.
Sciola explained how activism can affect individual people’s mental health differently.
“It’s not to say that we shouldn’t participate in these activities, it’s just there’s a lot of external factors that go into them, such as discrimination, being viewed a certain way, and putting yourself out there, which could lead to a lot of scrutiny,” Sciola said. “These types of activities have a lot more risk than participating in something like volunteering, where you go to an activity that people are usually in positive spirits for.”
Sciola encourages youth to be intentional about the types of civic activities they pursue.
“The main message I want to give is participate in an activity that you feel closely connected to and that brings value to you, especially if it is something like helping [others],” Sciola said.Overall, Sciola’s study highlights the importance of finding new approaches to improving young people’s mental health. Since mental health issues have risen globally, becoming the primary cause of disability in youth alongside substance use disorders, it is in McGill’s best interest to explore accessible, innovative, and community-based strategies that support students’ well-being.
