Does Civic Engagement Support Relational and Mental Health of Urban Population?

Michal Hrivnák (), Peter Moritz, Katarína Melichová and Soňa Bellérová
Additional contact information
Michal Hrivnák: Institute of Regional and Rural Development, Faculty of European Studies and Regional Development, Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra, Tr. A. Hlinku 2, 949 76 Nitra, Slovakia
Peter Moritz: Institute of Regional and Rural Development, Faculty of European Studies and Regional Development, Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra, Tr. A. Hlinku 2, 949 76 Nitra, Slovakia
Katarína Melichová: Institute of Regional and Rural Development, Faculty of European Studies and Regional Development, Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra, Tr. A. Hlinku 2, 949 76 Nitra, Slovakia
Soňa Bellérová: Institute of Landscape Architecture, Faculty of Horticulture and Landscape Engineering, Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra, Tr. A. Hlinku 2, 949 76 Nitra, Slovakia

Societies, 2023, vol. 13, issue 2, 1-16

Abstract: There is a general assumption that there is a relationship between civic engagement and mental health, but it has still received limited attention in empirical studies. This study provides estimates of the impact of civic engagement (measured in terms of political and community engagement) on the health of individuals in the case of a medium-sized urban settlement within the context of a post-socialist country. The impacts of civic engagement on mental and relational health are distinguished, which have received little attention in studies on the topic. Using primary data and utilising the tools of econometrics, we found positive effects of the population’s community engagement, including positive effects of volunteering, on relational health. Political participation of the population contributed to the reduction of depressive symptoms, but the relationship between community engagement and mental health was not found. A relatively high propensity towards participation in health and well-being projects, leading to improvements in the collective approach to public health and addressing unhealthy conditions in communities, was identified in the sample.

Keywords: community engagement; political engagement; volunteerism; well-being; mental health; relational health (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A13 A14 P P0 P1 P2 P3 P4 P5 Z1 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4698/13/2/46/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4698/13/2/46/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsoctx:v:13:y:2023:i:2:p:46-:d:1071532

Access Statistics for this article

Societies is currently edited by Ms. Farrah Sun

More articles in Societies from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().