Volunteering, Subjective Sleep Quality, and Chronic Inflammation: A 5-Year Follow-Up of the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project

Studies indicate that the benefits of volunteering may extend to biological risk factors in disease development including chronic inflammation, though the pathway through which volunteer activity predicts chronic inflammation remains unclear. The current project focuses on the link between volunteering and C-reactive protein (CRP) as a measure of chronic inflammation, while paying a particular attention to sleep quality as a pathway. Using panel data from the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (N = 1,124), the present study examined whether sleep quality operates indirectly linking volunteer activity and CRP (indirect pathway), compensates for the lack of volunteerism (moderation-compensation), or regulates the benefits of volunteering on CRP (moderation-regulation). The findings suggest sleep quality as a compensatory pathway, in that sufficient sleep buffers the inflammatory effect of lack of volunteerism. The findings show that helping others may be beneficial for the helpers in terms of chronic inflammation and sleep quality as interconnected health outcomes.