Civic participation is a way for people to address social issues and influence public decision-making. For this reason, young people's involvement in civic activities is often viewed positively, as it ensures that their voices are heard in society, strengthens their social relationships and networks, and reinforces their sense of identity, purpose, and self-confidence. However, research findings still disagree on how participation in civic activities affects the personal well-being of young people in the long term. Therefore, our INPSY members Honza Šerek and Michal Mužík decided to conduct longitudinal research with a diverse sample of young people to assess how civic engagement affects their mental well-being and how this relationship evolves over time.
The study examined three types of civic engagement simultaneously:
• protest (activities outside traditional political institutions)
• conventional (activities within traditional political institutions)
• and social (helping others in the community).
The research is also unique in that it was conducted in Czechia, a post-communist country in Central Europe, thereby expanding on existing knowledge, which comes mainly from countries with a long democratic tradition. The data was collected in seven waves, three months apart. A total of 1,257 people with an average age of 23 participated in the research.
Community service is more closely linked to mental well-being than protest
The authors found that people who are more civically engaged over the long term tend to have greater mental well-being. This correlation was strongest for social engagement (community service) and weakest for protest. The authors explain these results by saying that long-term mental well-being is more closely linked to community-oriented activities. In addition, it was found that engagement is most strongly linked to the social dimension of well-being (improved social functioning or view of society) and less to emotional and psychological aspects (such as mood or self-esteem).
Activism is not a "quick fix" for improving mental well-being
Another key finding of the study concerns what happens when a young person's level of engagement increases over time. The authors examined whether this increased engagement in one measurement period (e.g., in the fall) would lead to an improvement in mental well-being in the following period (e.g., in the winter). However, the study's results did not reveal convincing evidence that a change in civic engagement systematically caused a change in personal well-being. In other words, although more engaged people were generally happier, short-term civic engagement did not have a demonstrable immediate impact on improving emotional, psychological, or social well-being.
The study's findings therefore suggest that civic engagement is unlikely to have an immediate and lasting positive effect on young people's mental well-being. However, it is possible that the effects will emerge gradually over a longer period of time. Therefore, when designing interventions that seek to improve the mental well-being of young people through civic engagement, the emphasis should be placed on long-term cumulative effects rather than quick, one-off actions.
Recommended citation:
Šerek, J., & Mužík, M. (2025). The effects of youth civic participation on well-being: Results from a seven-wave longitudinal study. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/01650254251381981
