Coping and Growth among Isolated Male Workers Following the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Accident

Abstract

We sought to clarify the relationship between social support, experiences related to voluntary evacuation, stress-related growth (SRG), and the sense of coherence (SOC) in male workers following the voluntary evacuation of their wives and children following a nuclear accident. In workers whose wives and children had voluntarily evacuated and not yet returned, SRG and SOC tended to be lower. Furthermore, larger social support networks were associated with less SRG and lower SOC. Those who hid from others the fact that their family had voluntarily evacuated tended to have less SRG and a lower SOC.