Association between participation in community activities and work engagement: a prospective cohort study

It is well established that participation in community activities is positively associated with mental and physical health and overall well-being. However, little is known about the effect of community activities on work. We investigated the association between work engagement (measured in 2023) and frequency of worker participation in 2 types of community activities: community contribution activities and hobby-learning activities (measured in 2022).

We conducted a prospective cohort study comprising a baseline survey in 2022 and a follow-up survey in 2023. The sample comprised workers aged ≥20 years from different industries in Japan. Data for 14 526 participants aged 20-65 years were analyzed. Participants answered an online questionnaire to report the frequency of 2 types of community activities. Work engagement was assessed using the Japanese version of the 9-item Utrecht Work Engagement Scale. We used multiple regression analysis.

The multivariate analysis showed that participation in community contribution activities was significantly associated with higher work engagement compared with no participation (B = 1.18; 95% CI, 0.38-1.98 for at least once per week; B = 1.01; 95% CI, 0.38-1.64 for 1-3 times per month; and B = 0.46; 95% CI, 0.16-0.76 for several times per year). Participation in hobby-learning activities was significantly associated with higher work engagement compared with no participation (B = 0.69; 95% CI, 0.16-1.22 for at least once per week).

Our findings suggest a potential association between participation in community activities and higher work engagement.