Resilience and anxiety of new recruits in the Chinese military during COVID-19: Social support as a mediator

Abstract

We investigated the mediating effect of social support in the relationship between the resilience and anxiety of new recruits to the Chinese military during COVID-19. We conducted a routine psychological assessment of 665 new recruits and the results indicated that resilience had a negative impact on anxiety symptoms and that social support mediated this association. Our findings suggest that improving the resilience of new recruits and strengthening their social support systems during the COVID-19 pandemic could effectively reduce their anxiety and improve their psychological health during the military adaptation period.