Which types of giving are associated with reduced mortality risk among older adults?

This study examined how different giving behaviors and prosocial traits earlier in life were related to later mortality risk among older adults, using the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study that has followed a randomly selected sample of U.S. high school graduates since 1957. Cox proportional hazards analyses were used to examine the unadjusted and adjusted associations between the giving-related variables at baseline and survival time during follow-up, controlling for a number of covariates (N = =3544). Giving behaviors included giving money to known others, charitable donations, giving support to friends, volunteering, and non-spousal caregiving. Prosocial traits were measured by how caring and friendly/warm the participants were in a typical week. Time-giving behaviors (i.e. caregiving, volunteering, giving support) and prosocial traits were associated with a lower mortality risk in older adults, but giving money was not. This study extends the literature by simultaneously examining a broad range of giving manifestations, which may help researchers to understand reasons for any differences in health benefits among different forms of giving. The results demonstrate that there is more than one prosocial path to longevity in later life and suggest more thoughtful and committed ways to engage in giving.