The Impact of COVID-19 on Veterans’ Resilience, Attachment, and Negative Affect

On March 13, 2020, the US issued an emergency declaration in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, necessitating increased domestic engagement of the military to mount the national public health response. The US military’s increased domestic health response to the COVID-19 pandemic, combined with the effects of its involvement in a 20-year war exacerbated by recent tensions around America’s exit from Afghanistan, has led to increased stress on our already overburdened forces. This study compares baseline data from a treatment-seeking veteran sample before the onset of COVID-19 (n = 119) to veterans who sought counseling services during the pandemic (n = 100). We used six standardized mental health measures that assess attachment avoidance, attachment anxiety, resilience, depression, generalized anxiety, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and suicidality. Independent samples t-tests revealed that depression, generalized anxiety, and PTSD significantly decreased from before the pandemic to after its onset. However, the strength of the correlations between all six measures increased. We interpret the findings through an attachment and resiliency framework. We also explore the role of negative affect that might underlie depression, generalized anxiety, and PTSD. Lastly, we review and discuss a transdiagnostic approach to the therapeutic process, accounting for the COVID-19 pandemic.