Socialising adolescent volunteering: How important are parents and friends? Age dependent effects of parents and friends on adolescentsʹ volunteering behaviours

This study examined the relative importance of best friendʹs and parentsʹ volunteering and civic family orientation (combined with open family communication) in adolescent volunteering, and the moderating effect of age. Results, involving 698 adolescents (M age = 15.19; SD = 1.43), revealed that adolescents were more likely to volunteer when their best friend and parents volunteered, and volunteered more frequently when their family had a stronger civic orientation combined with more open family communication. Clear age differences were found: when adolescents get older, friends become more important for whether they volunteer, and the familyʹs civic orientation becomes important for their volunteering frequency. An implication of these findings may be that, depending on adolescentsʹ age and the aspect of volunteering, interventions may focus on targeting parentsʹ or friendʹs civic behaviour to stimulate adolescent volunteering.