A Comparison of Maternal Stress Indicators for Women Mothering from Afar and Proximally

Abstract

This paper examines several indices of maternal stress (Hock et al. 1989) to answer the question, “Does where a child resides affect the stress a mother experiences in parenting?” The analysis focuses on maternal self-report measures using the Maternal Separation Anxiety Scale (MSAS; Hock et al. 1989) and its three subscales. Additionally, I argue that career salience, or the importance one places on one’s career, offers a protective measure to maternal stress. In the remainder of the paper, I will review the literature on long distance mothering, deployment parenting and maternal stress and then introduce the research study, discuss the findings and results, and make suggestions for policy reforms.