Affiliations:
Department of Psychology, University of Zadar, Croatia
Correspondence:
[*]
Address for correspondence: Ana Slišković, Department of Psychology, University of Zadar, Obala kralja Petra Krešimira IV, 2, 23 000 Zadar, Croatia. Tel.: +385 23 200 535; Fax: +385 23 200 685; E-mails: [email protected]; [email protected].
Abstract: BACKGROUND:The dual life of seafarers and their families is recognized as a unique life which may bring various sources of stress for seafarers’ partners. OBJECTIVE:The study focuses on the explanation of the mental health of seafarers’ partners, by testing the role of different individual characteristics, and the organizational characteristics of their partners’ job. METHODS:The sample consisted of 539 women who declared themselves as seafarers’ partners (age range: 18–60 years). The on-line survey consisted of questions, relating to demographic characteristics of the participants and characteristics of their partners’ jobs, and a set of scales measuring general mental health, relationship satisfaction, stress coping strategies, perceived social support, and resilience. RESULTS:The results showed that, after controlling for demographic characteristics, significant contributions in the explanation of the mental health of seafarers’ partners are made by the following measures: resilience, relationship satisfaction, perceived social support, and use of stress coping strategies (a lower level of dysfunctional coping strategies, and a higher level of emotion-focused strategies). In addition, a favourable ratio between working and non-working days on the part of their seafaring partners contributed to the explanation of their general mental health. CONCLUSIONS:The results obtained confirmed the role of personal resources and human-resource practices in the explanation of the mental health of seafarers’ partners.
Keywords: Work contract, coping, resilience, social support
