Grover Laura E, Sharp Marie-Louise, Jones Margaret, Burdett Howard, Fear Nicola T
King's Centre for Military Health Research, King's College London, London, SE5 9RJ, UK.
Academic Department of Military Mental Health, King's College London, London, SE5 9RJ, UK.
BMC Public Health. 2025 Jan 8;25(1):96. doi: 10.1186/s12889-024-21083-7.
The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic led to the implementation of social distancing laws in the UK. This had several negative consequences on health, wellbeing and social functioning within the general population. Military veterans may have had unique experiences of social isolation during this time. This study examined the level of, and relationship between, structural and functional social support, and its association with mental health and wellbeing in a sample of UK veterans during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Throughout the first summer of the pandemic (June-September 2020), an additional wave of cross-sectional data was collected from UK Armed Forces personnel who had left regular military service and were participating in a longitudinal cohort study. In total, 1562 participants (44.04% response rate) completed a series of online questionnaires measuring sociodemographic characteristics, COVID-19 experiences and psychosocial health and wellbeing. Multivariable logistic and ordinal regression analyses were conducted.
For structural social support, 86.76% were in a relationship and 88.96% lived with others. For functional social support, one-quarter reported feelings of loneliness (27.42%) and low levels of perceived social support (28.14%). Structural support was associated with functional support. Being single, living alone and experiencing loneliness were associated with worse mental health and wellbeing, while living with other adults and reporting high levels of perceived social support were associated with better mental health and wellbeing.
This study has enhanced our understanding of social support among veterans and its implications for health and wellbeing. This knowledge is essential for advising the development of psychosocial interventions and policies to improve the psychological wellbeing of veterans in future pandemics and more broadly in their daily lives.
冠状病毒病（COVID-19）大流行导致英国实施社交距离法律。这对普通人群的健康、福祉和社会功能产生了若干负面影响。在此期间，退伍军人可能有独特的社会隔离经历。本研究调查了COVID-19大流行期间英国退伍军人样本中结构性和功能性社会支持的水平、二者之间的关系及其与心理健康和福祉的关联。
在大流行的第一个夏天（2020年6月至9月），从已离开正规军事服役并参与一项纵向队列研究的英国武装部队人员中收集了另一波横断面数据。共有1562名参与者（回应率为44.04%）完成了一系列在线问卷，这些问卷测量了社会人口学特征、COVID-19经历以及心理社会健康和福祉。进行了多变量逻辑回归和有序回归分析。
在结构性社会支持方面，86.76%的人处于恋爱关系中，88.96%的人与他人同住。在功能性社会支持方面，四分之一的人报告有孤独感（27.42%）和较低的感知社会支持水平（28.14%）。结构性支持与功能性支持相关。单身、独居和经历孤独与较差的心理健康和福祉相关，而与其他成年人同住并报告有较高的感知社会支持水平与较好的心理健康和福祉相关。
本研究增进了我们对退伍军人社会支持及其对健康和福祉影响的理解。这些知识对于指导制定心理社会干预措施和政策以改善退伍军人在未来大流行期间以及更广泛日常生活中的心理健康至关重要。
