It has been suggested that volunteering leads to increases in well-being, particularly in older and retiring adults, and that volunteering could be used as a public health intervention to increase well-being. However, the causal relationship has been questioned. We investigated the association between voluntary work and life satisfaction in a bivariate dual-change score model, using 4 years of longitudinal data from 1,123 participants from the Health, Aging and Retirement Transitions in Sweden (HEARTS) study. Both the frequency of volunteering and the level of life satisfaction increased across the retirement transition. However, baseline life satisfaction and volunteering were only marginally associated. Further, the coupling parameters suggest that higher levels of volunteering were followed by decreases in life satisfaction and that higher levels of life satisfaction were followed by increases in volunteering. These findings suggest that increasing levels of volunteering might not be a fruitful strategy for improving life satisfaction for all older adults-if people engage too much in voluntary work, it might even be detrimental for their life satisfaction. More research is needed to better understand when and for whom increased levels of volunteering might have positive effects on life satisfaction. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

中文翻译：

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帮助还是自己？退休过渡期间的志愿服务和生活满意度。

有人建议，志愿服务可以增加人们的福祉，特别是在年长和退休的成年人中，志愿服务可以作为一项公共卫生干预措施，以增加人们的福祉。但是，因果关系受到质疑。我们使用来自瑞典健康，老龄化和退休过渡（HEARTS）研究的1,123名参与者的4年纵向数据，在双变量双变化评分模型中调查了自愿工作与生活满意度之间的关联。在整个退休过渡期间，志愿服务的频率和生活满意度的水平都增加了。但是，基线生活满意度和志愿服务仅存在少量关联。进一步，耦合参数表明，更高的志愿服务水平会导致生活满意度下降，而更高的生活满意度会导致志愿服务增加。这些发现表明，提高志愿服务水平可能不是提高所有老年人生活满意度的有效策略，如果人们过多地从事志愿工作，甚至可能对他们的生活满意度有害。需要更多的研究来更好地了解何时何地为谁增加志愿服务可能对生活满意度产生积极影响。（PsycInfo数据库记录（c）2020 APA，保留所有权利）。这些发现表明，提高志愿服务水平可能不是提高所有老年人生活满意度的有效策略，如果人们过多地从事志愿工作，甚至可能对他们的生活满意度有害。需要更多的研究以更好地了解何时何地为谁增加志愿服务可能对生活满意度产生积极影响。（PsycInfo数据库记录（c）2020 APA，保留所有权利）。这些发现表明，提高志愿服务水平可能不是提高所有老年人生活满意度的有效策略，如果人们过多地参加志愿工作，甚至可能会损害他们的生活满意度。需要更多的研究以更好地了解何时何地为谁增加志愿服务可能对生活满意度产生积极影响。（PsycInfo数据库记录（c）2020 APA，保留所有权利）。