Mental health and resilience in the Irish defense forces during the COVID-19 global pandemic

Figures & data

Table 1. Mean and standard deviations of demographic variables for total sample and gender.

Demographic variables	N = 231%	M	SD	Male n = 196%	Female n = 35%
Gender Male Female	84.8 15.2	1.15	0.36
Age (range) 18–24 25–34 35–44 45–54 Over 50	2.2 24.2 48.5 20.8 4.3	3.01	0.84	2.6 23.5 47.4 21.9 4.6	0 28.6 54.3 14.3 2.9
Marital Single Married/Cohabiting Separated/Divorced Widowed Other	24.7 72.3 1.3 0 1.7	1.82	0.62	20.9 75.5 1.5 0 2.0	45.7 54.3 0 0 0
Children None 1–2 2–4 4 or more	34.6 40.3 21.6 3.5	0.94	0.84	31.6 43.4 21.9 3.1	51.4 22.9 20 5.7
Service Army Naval Service Air Corp	82.3 10.8 6.9	1.25	0.57	82.7 9.7 7.7	80 17.1 2.9
Rank Commissioned officer Noncommissioned officer Private Recruit	54.5 26.8 17.7 0.9	1.65	0.80	53.1 26.5 19.9 0.5	62.9 28.6 5.7 2.9
Military service (years) < 5 5–10 10–15 15–20 20 or more	6.1 13 10 26.4 44.6	3.90	1.27	6.1 12.8 8.7 25 47.4	5.7 14.3 17.1 34.3 28.6
Deployments overseas None 1 2 3 4 or more	8.7 19.5 17.7 14.7 39.4	2.57	1.40	6.6 19.9 17.3 11.7 44.4	20 17.1 20 31.4 11.4

Table 2. Impact of COVID-19 pandemic and restrictions, and previous mental health experiences.

	Mental Health Pre-COVID-19	Mental Health during COVID-19
	% (N = 231)	% (N = 231)
Excellent	29.9	11.7
Very good	39.8	31.2
Good	19.9	28.1
Fair	6.5	24.7
Poor	3.9	3.9
Not sure	–	0.4
Total	100	100
Items related to COVID-19 and mental health	Yes %	No %
Deployed overseas March 2020	19.5	80.5
Deployed overseas Jan – Feb 2021	15.6	84.4
Deployed Ireland COVID-19	47.2	52.8
Past mental health difficulties?	42.4	57.6
Attend GP or Mental Health professionals for mental health difficulties?	22.9	76
Ever attended counseling?	34.2	65.8
Did service during COVID 19 have a negative impact on psychological wellbeing?	41.6	58.4
Worried loved ones would contract COVID 19?	84.8	15.2
Watched a lot of news coverage on COVID 19?	76.6	23.4
Did Government shutdowns have a positive effect on work/life balance?	42.4	57.6
Did shutdowns have a negative effect on personal life?	68	32
Experienced a bereavement due to COVID 19 (family member, friend, neighbor or relative of friend)?	18.6	81.4
Were roles and duties during COVID 19 rewarding?	63.6	36.4
Were roles and duties during COVID 19 frustrating?	57.1	42.9

Table 3. Descriptive statistics for predictor variables and independent t-tests comparing predictor variables for DIPD and non-DIPD.

			t-test for Equality of Means
Variables	N = 231^a		DIPD N = 109	Non-DIPD N = 121	t	Sig. (2 – tailed)	95% Confidence Interval
	Mean	Std. Deviation	Mean (SD)			p =	Lower	Upper
PCTQ	26.47	7.66	26.64 (7.70)	26.31 (7.66)	0.33	.744	−1.66	2.32
CD-RISC 10	29.68	6.30	28.87 (6.96)	30.41 (5.57)	−1.86	.064	−3.16	0.09
BTQ	2.72	1.92	2.80 (1.90)	2.65 (1.94)	0.55	.581	−0.37	0.66
PCL-5	16.74	16.53	19.20 (19.34)	14.53 (13.20)	2.12	.036	0.32	9.03
AUDIT	6.74	5.70	6.63 (6.18)	6.85 (5.19)	−0.28	.779	−1.72	1.29
PHQ-9	5.67	5.61	6.37 (6.49)	5.06 (4.65)	1.74	.083	−0.17	2.81
GAD-7	4.53	5.17	5.26 (5.99)	3.88 (4.22)	2.00	.047	0.02	2.75
Mental Health PC19	2.15	1.05	2.16 (1.13)	2.14 (.96)	0.12	.904	−.26	.29
Mental Health DC19	2.79	1.09	2.88 (1.11)	2.71 (1.06)	1.17	.243	−.12	.45

^aDue to missing values and varied sample sizes, means were compared pairwise.

*p < .007 (Bonferroni adjusted)

BTQ = Brief Trauma Questionnaire, PCL-5 = Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist (DSM-5), PHQ-9 = Patient Health Questionnaire 9, GAD-7 = Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7, CD-RISC 10 = Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale 10, AUDIT = Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test, PCTQ = Perceived Coronavirus Threat Questionnaire, PC19 = Pre COVID-19, DC19 = During COVID-19.

Table 4. Results of correlation analyses between outcome variables.

Variables	1	2	3	4	5	6
1. Resilience	–
2. PTSD Criterion A (TE)	0.06	–
3. Posttraumatic stress	−.41**	.32**	–
4. Depression	−.46**	.28**	.83**	–
5. Generalized anxiety	−.44**	.23**	.83**	.88**	–
6. Coronavirus anxiety	−.15*	−0.03	.23**	.21**	.28**	–
7. Alcohol use	−.17*	.17*	.34**	.32**	.32**	−0.02

^aDue to missing values, correlation coefficients were calculated pairwise; variables 1 & 6, n = 231.

variable 3, n = 230; variables 4 & 5, n = 229; variable 12, n = 223; variable 2, n = 218.

Variable measures: 1.CD-RISC 10, 2. BTQ, 3, PCL, 4. PHQ-9, 5. GAD-7, 6. PCTQ, 7. AUDIT.

*p < .05. **p < .01.

Table 5. Crosstabs analysis of traumatic events (BTQ), probable diagnosis of PTSD^a, and gender.

		PTSD (n = 41**) %
Brief Trauma Questionnaire (BTQ)^b	Yes N = 231* %		Male (n = 35) %	Female (n = 6) %
1. Served in war zone or exposed to war-related casualties	48		54	7†
2. Serious accident (car or work)	25		29	5
3. Been in natural or technological disaster	12		22	0
4. Had a life threatening illness	7		5	0
5. Physically punished before age 18 by parent, carer or teacher	20		17	2
6. Attacked or beaten or mugged by family, friends or stranger (excluding reported in 5.)	49		66	10
7. Pressured into unwanted sexual contact	11		12	7
8. Other situation where you were seriously injured or feared being seriously injured or killed	36		51	7
9. Close family member died violently (car crash, mugging, or attack)	17		29	7
10. Ever witnessed someone else seriously injured or killed or feared they would be	44		39	10

^aScores > 31 are indicative of probable diagnosis of PTSD on Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist DSM-5 (PCL-5).

^bBTQ items are summarized for ease of presentation.

† Percentages do not add up to 100 as not all participants endorsed each item.

* Item 3, n = 227; Item 4 & Item 9, n = 230; Item 6, n = 229; Item 7 & Item 10, n = 228.

** Items 3, 4, & 10, n = 40.

Data availability statement

These data, which are owned by Trinity College Dublin, are not publicly available.