U.S. Air Force cyber personnel were faced with changes in their workplace, fitness routines, and personal lives during the COVID19 pandemic. Adjusting to COVID-19-related requirements likely increased the stress of already stressful jobs for military members and their families, which could have resounding impacts on emotional, social, and physical well-being. Therefore, it is important to evaluate psychological health outcomes and self-perceived impacts of the changes presented to cyber personnel because of the COVID-19 pandemic. An online occupational health assessment that included demographics, standardized measures of burnout, psychological distress, and work role strain; health behaviors; and perceived impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic was administered to 1488 cyber personnel. Thirty-two negative themes and 13 positive themes were created from qualitative coding for "How has the COVID-19 pandemic impacted you as an individual?" Of the themes created, 966 (68.5%) reported at least one negative impact and 440 (31.2%) reported at least one positive impact. Top-reported negative impacts were limited face-to-face interactions and loss of personal activities. Negative impacts were associated with negative psychological health outcomes (e.g., psychological distress, exhaustion, cynicism) and work role strain. Action-oriented recommendations are given in the event of another pandemic.
Keywords: COVID-19 pandemic; U.S. Air Force; cyber; psychological health.