The impact of covid-19 on the well-being and satisfaction of military students: The role of covid-19 infection, prophylactic isolation and containment measures

The COVID-19 pandemic has drastically altered daily life worldwide and its possible psychological consequences rapidly became a cause for concern. This study intends to analyze if COVID-19 related variables (i.e., infection, prophylactic isolation and satisfaction with the containment measures) have a significant effect on psychological well-being, life satisfaction, organizational commitment and satisfaction with military training of military students. A sample of 395 students was collected during May 2021. Participants answered four scales assessing psychological well-being, satisfaction with life, organizational commitment and satisfaction with military training. The results indicate that students who contracted COVID-19 revealed higher values of environmental mastery. Furthermore, students who agreed with the restrictions imposed by the military organization revealed higher satisfaction with life, environmental mastery, self-acceptance, affective and normative commitment, but also higher satisfaction with their military training. No significant effects were found in the scores of the other variables analyzed. These results show that the satisfaction with the virus containment measures had a significant effect on different psychological dimensions and also on the students’ relationship with the military organization.