The present study, based on data gathered after the first year of a longitudinal investigation, was designed to compare the second generational effects of long-term father absence on children whose fathers are classified as "missing in action" and children whose fathers were held prisoners during the Vietnam War but returned to their families. The study included 99 children of returned prisoners of war and 105 children of men who remain "missing in action." The investigators were concerned with examining whether the children whose fathers have not returned would have greater difficulty adjusting than the children whose fathers returned. All subjects were administered the California Test of Personality approximately 12 to 24 months after the return of American prisoners of war from Vietnam to determine their levels of personal and social adjustment. Scores are compared using a t-test for significant differences. Findings indicated that the groups differed in two areas of adjustment: one area of personal adjustment, manifestation of nervous symptoms, and one area of social adjustment, community relations; in both cases the children whose fathers did not return were indicating poorer adjustment. (Author)