The Contributing Factors to the Subjective Wellbeing, Future Orientation, and Leadership Ability of Youth Volunteering in a Therapy Center: The Role of Personal, Environmental, and Organizational Resources

The phenomenon of youth volunteering has attracted significant attention on the part of scholars and practitioners, in the community and in different organizations, and across a variety of disciplines. In general, volunteering can be defined as service and/or assistance rendered by an individual for the benefit of another individual or the greater public, out of one’s own free will and with no expectation of material reward. Among adolescents in particular, volunteering serves an additional purpose, which lies in its contribution to their personal and social development.

This study focused on youth volunteers at a unique therapeutic riding center in Tel-Mond, Israel. The uniqueness of this center lies in its contribution to the psychosocial development of the youths, alongside the volunteering act itself. This development is guided by a professional team led by the head of the center (who is a community social worker), an individual social worker, and volunteer's coordinator, who is a community social worker in her professional background. This study had two main objectives. First, it sought to examine the role played by personal, environmental, and organizational resources as potential contributory factors concerning three main adjustment measures in the lives of the youth volunteers: subjective wellbeing, future orientation, and leadership ability. The second objective was to assess longitudinal changes in these measures, by comparing two time points during the adolescents' volunteering - the initial stage and the final stage. It is worthwhile to mention that there is no other research to date to asses two time points in youth's volunteering, hence this study is a pioneer one in its nature.

The theoretical model providing the foundation of this study is based on three main theories. (a) Conservation of Resources Theory, according to which individuals act in certain ways in order to gain, conserve, and protect their personal resources. In the context of this study, we presume that adolescents volunteer in the community out of such motives as correspond with their own values and attitudes, and in order to gain resources for their future adult lives. This presumption is based on the fact that the adolescents chose to volunteer in this specific therapeutic center, on the basis of its alignment with their personal values and interests. (b) Social Systems Theory, according to which the individual is a part of the society and community, as there is an ongoing interaction between these systems. In the current study, we worked on the presumption that the volunteers who joined the therapeutic riding center had basic personal resources (namely, self-evaluation, sense of mastery, sense of growth, the absence of stress - all of which fall within the volunteer inputs). During their volunteering work, they experience an exchange process, guided by environmental and organizational resources. According to this, outputs are manifested in their adjustment by three main measures: subjective wellbeing, future orientation, and leadership ability. (c) Social Capital Theory, according to which every individual possesses personal, societal, and environmental resources, which make it possible for him/her to expand his/her social networks, to contribute to it, and to use it for his/her benefit.

Given the above, this study had two main research questions. First, what factors contribute to the three abovementioned adjustment measures (subjective wellbeing, future orientation, leadership ability) of the youth volunteers? Second, is there any improvement in these three measures when comparing their levels during the first (a month after the volunteers’ initial entry to the organization) and second (seven to eight months subsequently) time-periods?

In light of these two research questions, the specific study hypotheses were: (a) there will be a positive correlation between the youth volunteers' personal resources (self-evaluation, sense of mastery, sense of growth) and their three adjustment measures (subjective wellbeing, future orientation, leadership ability) - this hypothesis was examined for both the first and second time periods of this study; (b) there will be a negative correlation between the youth volunteers' sense of stress (as a personal resource) and their three adjustment measures (subjective wellbeing, future orientation, leadership ability) - this hypothesis was examined for both time periods of this study; (c) there will be a positive correlation between the youth volunteers' perceived social support (as an environmental resource) and their three adjustment measures (subjective wellbeing, future orientation, leadership ability)—this hypothesis was examined for both time periods of this study; (d) there will be a positive correlation between the youth volunteers' organizational resources (volunteering's salience, volunteering's effect, supervisors' attitudes, organizational commitment) and their three adjustment measures (subjective wellbeing, future orientation, leadership ability) - this hypothesis was examined for both time periods of this study; (e) youth volunteers’ subjective wellbeing in T2 will be predicted by their personal, environmental, and organizational resources, also assessed in T2; (f) youth volunteers’ future orientation in T2 will be predicted by their personal, environmental, and organizational resources, also assessed in T2; (g) youth volunteers’ leadership ability in T2 will be predicted by their personal, environmental, and organizational resources, all assessed in T2.

In addition to these seven hypotheses, this study also considered an additional study question: When comparing the two time periods, is there a significant improvement in the three adjustment measures for the youth volunteers? That is to say, what measures of improvement can be identified from their seven-to-eight months of volunteering in the therapeutic riding center? If these measures did improve, what were the predictive factors for each measure?

The study hypotheses were tested by means of a quantitative research study. Questionnaires were administered to 150 adolescents (mean age: 16.76 years; SD=1.25 years), volunteering at the Center for Therapeutic Riding, located in Tel-Mond, Israel, and part of a larger organization, "The Center for Therapeutic Riding and Canine Training". This center offers a range of therapies conducted with horses and dogs, and also delivers theoretical and practical courses on therapeutic riding and canine training for instructors and supervisors. The questionnaire included fourteen sub-questionnaires in the following fields: subjective wellbeing, future orientation, leadership ability, self-evaluation, sense of mastery, sense of growth, sense of stress, perceived social support, the salience of volunteering, the effect of volunteering, supervisors' support, organizational commitment, and socio-demographic data.

Data was collected at two time points. The first was a month after the commencement of the volunteering engagement (November-December). The second was towards the end of the adolescents' volunteering period (April-June). The questionnaires were given to the participants by the researchers themselves. Around 70% of the questionnaires were completed manually, and the rest online. Of the 150 volunteers at the center, 112 returned a full completed questionnaire (response rate of around 75% of all youth volunteers at the center). 60 of the research participants were girls, and 52 were boys.

Findings show that the three adjustment measures (subjective wellbeing, future orientation, leadership ability) improved significantly over the course of the volunteering engagement. This was determined by comparing the volunteers’ levels at the start of their volunteering engagement with the levels 7-8 months later. In addition, we identified a significant improvement in several independent variables, namely sense of mastery, sense of growth, and perceived social support. The variables that did not improve significantly were self-evaluation, sense of stress, supervisors' support, and organizational commitment. Regarding volunteering's effect, even though no significant improvement was manifested by the data, the significance level was rather close to the accepted level, and thus can be interpreted as a marginal improvement. It should also be noted that there was a significant decrease in volunteering's salience.

In the regression analyses calculated in order to predict the three adjustment measures, we found that the regression model for the prediction of the volunteers' subjective wellbeing, by their personal, environmental, and organizational resources, was significant. In this regression model, the significant explanatory variables were sense of mastery (personal resource), perceived social support (environmental resource), and supervisors' support (organizational resource). These explained 39% of the variance of youth volunteers' subjective wellbeing.

An additional regression model was calculated for the prediction of the future orientation of the volunteers, by their personal, environmental, and organizational resources. This model was also significant, as the variables that significantly contributed to the explanation were sense of mastery (personal resource) and supervisors' support (organizational resource). These explained 41% of the variance of youth volunteers' future orientation. Besides these two resources (one was personal and the other was organizational), there was no significant contribution to the environmental resource.

Finally, we calculated a third regression model, this time for the prediction of the volunteers' leadership ability, using the same independent variables. This model was also significant, and included two significant predictors: sense of mastery (personal resource) and organizational commitment (organizational resource). These explained 47% of the variance of youth volunteers' leadership ability. Besides these two resources (one was personal and the other was organizational), there was no significant contribution to the environmental resource.

In order to learn about the longitudinal paths, we calculated several path analyses. In the first analysis, we examined the longitudinal path of the change in the volunteers' subjective wellbeing. In this analysis, we found two main paths: (a) direct (and negative) contribution of baseline subjective wellbeing (T1); (b) indirect (mediated) contribution of baseline subjective wellbeing (T1), through baseline future orientation (T1) and change (d) in personal resources. Regarding the longitudinal path of the change in the volunteers' future orientation, we found three main paths: (a) direct (and negative) contribution of baseline future orientation (T1); (b) indirect (mediated) contribution of baseline future orientation (T1), through the change (d) in personal resources; (c) indirect (mediated) contribution of baseline future orientation (T1), through the change (d) in organizational resources and growth at T2. Finally, regarding the longitudinal path of the change in volunteers' leadership ability, we found two main paths: (a) direct (and negative) contribution of baseline leadership ability (T1); (b) indirect (mediated) contribution of baseline leadership ability (T1), through future orientation in T1 and the change (d) in personal resources.

The study's findings strengthen the relevance of Social Systems Theory, which served as the theoretical base of this study. Hence, in these three path analyses, one can see the importance of volunteer-level inputs (baseline levels of examined variables, as well as volunteers' personal resources), and one can identify the significant contribution of the exchange process that the volunteers experienced (by their environmental and organizational resources). These eventually led to strengthening the volunteers' adjustment measures: subjective wellbeing, future orientation, and leadership ability.

These path models also accord with Conservation of Resources Theory, as these three adjustment measures can assist young people during the turbulent period that is adolescence, providing important coping resources when the young people face barriers and difficulties. Furthermore, the findings regarding the youth volunteers' leadership ability reinforce Social Capital Theory, as they underscore the contribution of the social capital to the volunteers, and the potential future contribution of the youth volunteers as active and involved citizens in their environments and communities. This, in turn, could strengthen the social capital of the volunteers' surroundings and environments.

This study sheds light on the importance of the discourse relating to youth volunteering, as it shows that the act of volunteering contributes to the development of personal attributes and capabilities, important in both the short and long term young people shaping their identity. Hence, besides the finding that youth volunteering helps adolescents in developing their personal abilities and attitudes (e.g., subjective wellbeing and future orientation), we also found that volunteering helps in the development of abilities that can be directed to the benefit of others (e.g., leadership).

In sum, we conclude that the contribution of the volunteering engagement encompasses both personal and societal development; as such, the social contribution of volunteering can be depicted as providing a solid base for future generations of active and involved citizens.