The effects of marriage on volunteering and mental health: moderated mediation analysis

Abstract

Past research has claimed that more volunteering experience could reduce an individual`s risk of depression. However, this conclusion may be too simplistic. This study aims to explore the effect of marriage within the complex relationships among volunteering, depression, and subjective well-being, which is utilized as the mediator. The 1,934 participants were randomly recruited from Taiwan. All the participants were asked to complete Subjective Well-Being Scale and Taiwan Depression Scale. The findings indicate that subjective well-being is a bridging-factor between volunteering and depression; whereas the model produces varied results according to marital status. For `single` and `married` people, subject well-being is a mediator, while for `never married` people, that is a suppressor in the relationship between volunteering and depression.[PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]