Ward

Third Culture Kids, Unresolved Grief and Resilience

Amelia Ward

Abstract

Common symptoms experienced by Third Culture Kids during later adolescence include

anxiety, depression, sadness, loneliness, social isolation, and lack of a sense of belonging. These

issues arise primarily from what Willmer (1984) identified as the two greatest challenges for

TCKs: questions of identity and coping with grief. Questions of identity arise from the

impermanence of TCKs’ social and cultural identity due to frequent cultural transition, as well as

the inability to communicate their unique experiences to peers. Unresolved grief often arises

from lack of discussion surrounding the accumulated losses that TCKs experienced during

developmental years. Further understanding of the effect of these two issues may pave the way

for interventions aimed at decreasing adverse outcomes among TCKs in later adolescence.

Keywords: grief, resilience, multicultural.