The study context
Compared to other European countries, Scandinavian countries, especially Norway and Sweden score high on volunteering and other civic activities, with about 50% of the population of these countries engaging actively in volunteering work (Focusing on Norway as the context of the present study, with the youth’s high scores in civic engagement, and the review of earlier studies that generally suggests a positive or protective effect of civic activities on mental health, it is natural to inquire how Norwegian youth are doing with respect to their mental health. In a recent study by Hafstad et al. (