Trauma and Resilience Among Veterans during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Background and Purpose: Individuals worldwide have been affected tremendously by the COVID-19 pandemic. Loneliness, isolation, mental health symptoms, and financial hardship may severely impact veterans whose physical and mental health have already been profoundly influenced by their military experiences. Evidence suggests that veterans face an increased risk of developing post-traumatic stress disorders (PTSD) and other behavioral health problems. There is a need to investigate how the COVID-19 pandemic has influenced veterans and their families and explore potential resilience resources veterans have employed during the pandemic.

Methods: The Qualtrics online survey panel was utilized to collect data from 124 veteran participants. The instruments of PTSD Checklist – Military Version, WHO Well-Being Index, CAGE Adapted to Include Drugs Questionnaire were used to assess behavioral health conditions of veterans during the pandemic. The Social Psychological Survey of COVID-19 was employed to assess the participants’ perceived coronavirus threats, as well as COVID-19’s financial and psychological impacts. Questions were developed to inquire about the changes in participants’ parental discipline due to the pandemic. One open-ended question was designed to explore coping strategies the participants have used to reduce pandemic-related stressors. Descriptive statistics and bivariate correlations were employed for data analysis.

Results: The average level of PTSD symptoms among the 124 participants was 2.56 (SD = 1.30) on a 1-5 scale, suggesting veterans experienced moderate levels of PTSD symptoms during the pandemic. The mean score of the mental well-being was 3.97 (SD = 1.22) on a 1-6 scale, indicating the participants had favorable mental conditions more than half of the time. Finally, 55.6% of the participants experienced substance use issues during the pandemic. Almost 50% of the participants felt threatened by the COVID-19 virus, 33.1% experienced job-related income loss, and 40.3% said the pandemic negatively affected their psychological health. 71.8% of the participants reported strengthened relationships with their children, while 16% reported an increase in the use of corporal punishment to discipline their child, which was positively correlated with parents’ higher levels of PTSD symptoms (r = 3.30, p = 0.001) and substance use problems (r = 0.22, p = 0.01).

We found various coping strategies utilized by the participants to address their pandemic-related stressors. Among those were religion-based activities, spending time with family, self-care (reading, watching tv/movies, meditating, relaxing, doing yoga), following COVID-19 safety guidelines, finding a hobby, staying active, utilizing mental health services from the Department of Veteran Affairs, seeking financial relief, time management, open communication with family and friends, taking it one day at a time, and staying hopeful.

Conclusions and Implications: This study described the profiles of veterans during the COVID-19 pandemic. While veteran participants reported a high percentage of substance use and a moderate level of trauma symptoms, most participants suggested strengthened relationships with their children. More importantly, veterans developed enormous resilience resources to cope with pandemic-related stressors. The findings from this study suggest that veteran health service providers may need to focus on the veteran clients’ inner resources to empower this population.