Journal article
Volunteerism, mental health, and well-being in the lesbian, gay and bisexual community
Social work in mental health, Vol.18(6), pp.670-683
2020
Abstract
Volunteerism plays a vital role in connecting individuals with various communities to provide numerous forms of altruistic service across the US. However, little is known about the numbers of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender/gender diverse and queer+ (LGBTQ+) people who engage in volunteer roles and community engagement activities, and the impact this may have upon their well-being and mental health. This secondary analysis of lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) individuals (N = 71, weighted) from the 2018 General Social Survey compares volunteerism, mental health, and perceptions of well-being among LGB volunteers and non-volunteers. Findings reveal that as many as 49% of LGB people in the sample that had volunteer experience self-reported that volunteering activities resulted in a lower median number of days of poor mental health (four days in the last 30 days) when compared to the poor mental health reported by non-volunteers (eight days). Implications for the field of social work, volunteerism, and the potential impact upon LGBTQ+ individuals engaging in volunteer efforts are examined.
Details
- Title
- Volunteerism, mental health, and well-being in the lesbian, gay and bisexual community
- Authors
- Trevor Gates (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Social Sciences - LegacyMichael P Dentato (Author) - Loyola University Chicago
- Publication details
- Social work in mental health, Vol.18(6), pp.670-683
- Publisher
- Routledge
- Date published
- 2020
- DOI
- 10.1080/15332985.2020.1837333
- ISSN
- 1533-2993
- Organisation Unit
- School of Social Sciences - Legacy; University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland; School of Law and Society
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 99496008802621
- Output Type
- Journal article
Metrics
32 Record Views
InCites Highlights
These are selected metrics from InCites Benchmarking & Analytics tool, related to this output
- Collaboration types
- Domestic collaboration
- International collaboration
- Web Of Science research areas
- Social Work