Effect of Cultural Identification and Family Affection on Coping Abilities in Missionary Kids

This exploratory study examined the role of missionary kids' (MKs) cultural identification and family affection on their abilities to cope with potentially traumatic events. A total of 156 MKs completed online questionnaires that assessed parental affection, cultural identification, and coping. The results demonstrated that greater verbal affection from mothers was related to increased coping for Western-identified MKs, whereas greater non-verbal forms of affection from mothers were related to increased coping for Asian-identified MKs. Another key finding was the distinction between MKs' ethnicity and cultural identification. This emphasizes the importance of understanding MKs' cultural identification as distinct, rather than congruent, to their ethnic background.