WOMENS PSYCHOLOGICAL STRESS AS CAUSED BY MENS JOB TRANSFERS - A COMPARATIVE-STUDY BETWEEN MEN WHO ARE DISLOCATED WITH VS WITHOUT THEIR FAMILIES

This study examined the influence of husbands' absence on wives' psych ological stress. Women whose husbands transferred with (N = 180) or wi thout (N = 229) being accompanied by their families, completed questio nnaires about stress reaction, childcare anxiety, children's problem b ehaviors, parent-child communication and fathers cooperation with chil d-care. ANOVA analysis revealed that women who did not accompany their husbands (tanshin-funin) reported more stress reactions such as, ''fe eling lonely'', ''anxiety'' and ''poor physical condition'' than did w omen who accompanied their husbands (taido-funin). Results of path ana lysis indicated that (1) tanshin-funin wives' child-care anxiety accou nted for twice as much variance in their stress reaction, compared wit h taido-funin wives', and (2) tanshin-funin children's early delinquen t behaviors influenced their mothers' child-care anxiety and stress. I n addition, tanshin-funin wives recognized that their spouses' father/ husband role performance affected children's problem behavior and wome n's stress. These data suggest that physical husband/father absence do es not have so much of a direct negative effect on their families' wel l-being, but physical absence plus functional absence lead to more chi ld's problem behavior, and wives' child-care anxiety or negative stres s.