Emigration: psychopathologic reaction in the families left behind.

In order to investigate whether emigration acts as a psychic stress on the families left at home, two groups of families were compared: In group A the head of the family had emigrated, in group B the head of the family was a candidate for emigration. Compared to group B, group A showed a significantly higher rate of psychopathology related to the stress of emigration. Wives and children were mainly affected. The stress of emigration on the wives was corroborated by finding a high proportion of separated couples in group A in comparison with none in group B.