Who Volunteers? Results From an Internet-Based Cognitive Monitoring Study of Community-Based Older Adults

Objectives. Volunteering promotes well-being and may provide added purpose to life after retirement. Limited evidence exists regarding the characteristics and study adherence among those who participate in longitudinal studies while also volunteering outside the study. We assessed characteristics and adherence of older adults who volunteered outside of participation in a regular monthly cognitive monitoring study. Method. All 124 participants with complete data were included. Participants were from a regular cognitive monitoring study that required completion of a 15-min monthly online cognitive assessment. Analysis of covariance and logistic regression analysis were performed to examine differences between volunteers and nonvolunteers. Results. Those who volunteered outside the study were significantly less likely to be college-educated (although all participants were highly educated) but the two groups were cognitively similar. Volunteers had significantly lower scores for neuroticism. Those who volunteered also were significantly less likely to drop out but had poorer study adherence. The most frequent type of volunteering was religious activities. Volunteers were motivated mainly by altruism, although most reported multiple reasons. Conclusion. Older adults who enroll in a longitudinal research study and volunteer outside the study have similar personal characteristics as those who opt out of additional volunteering, with somewhat less education and more favorable personality traits. However, they may be more likely to drop out and need more reminders. Therefore, those who volunteer outside a study may need more attention from study administrators and potentially a more individualized schedule that works around their volunteer obligations.