Family Member Stress Reactions to Military Involvement Separation

This article describes an exploratory study of stress reactions experienced by adult dependents separated from family members involved in the Persian Gulf War. The majority of respondents reported loneliness and anxiety along with strong feelings of pride and patriotism. Most of the sample reported a strong need for additional support groups. Separation reactions were related to age, ethnicity, education, expected and actual lengths of the current separation, and number and duration of prior military separations