Examining the Impact of a Third Culture Kid Upbringing: Wellbeing, Attachment and Ethnic Identity Strength in Adult Third Culture Kids

Doherty, Lucy; Lieu, Jenai; Aledeh, Muhammad; Edwards, Ann-Marie; Kotera, Yasuhiro

Abstract

Third Culture Kids (TCK) are generally considered to be children who spend a significant period living outside of their home country but reside only temporarily in one or more host country/ies. TCKs’ upbringing, it is argued, may lead to a number of negative psychological outcomes including depression, anxiety, and identity and attachment issues. This quantitative study based on a total of 489 participants compares the self-report responses of adults who had been TCKs with those of non-TCK adults, on the measures of ethnic identity, wellbeing, loneliness, attachment, resilience, and self-concept clarity. Results indicate that TCK adults had a weaker ethnic identity, greater resilience, and were less comfortable forming close relationships than non-TCK adults. Among TCK adults, having siblings was associated with reduced attachment anxiety and greater resilience, while practising a religion was related to increased ethnic identity. Findings indicate the need to raise awareness among parents, teachers, and counsellors about the difficulties that TCKs might face.

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: May 4, 2023
• Online Publication Date: Jul 17, 2023
• Publication Date: 2023-08
• Deposit Date: Jul 22, 2023
• Publicly Available Date: Jul 27, 2023
• Journal: Journal of Research in International Education
• Print ISSN: 1475-2409
• Electronic ISSN: 1741-2943
• Publisher: SAGE Publications
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 22
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 164-180
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/14752409231189364
• Keywords: Education
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/23220828
• Publisher URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/14752409231189364