Relationship Between Marine Corps Wives' Stress and Perceived Social Support

Military families currently experience multiple stressors on a daily basis. There is little recent research that examines the relationship between stress and social support in Marine Corps wives. This study explored the relationship between stress faced by a sample of 119 Camp Pendleton, CA Marine Corps wives and their perception of social support and well-being. Results indicate that overall perceived stress of these wives is high, independent of their husband's deployment status. This may suggest that training, work schedule, lack of stability, and inability to anticipate time together contributes to stress when the service member is at home. The analysis of the data collected did not support previous research that a higher perception of social support buffered perceived stress in Marine Corps wives. Additionally, higher perceived levels of emotional support appear to be related to higher ratings of general well-being. Post-hoc analysis revealed increased perceived stress is negatively related to general well-being. The results indicate further research directed towards daily stressors that Marine Corps wives face would be necessary to better understand what supports would be most beneficial to reduce or manage the stress.