Key Takeaways about TCKs

Note: MKs are a subset of TCKs whose parents are missionaries. TCKs also include children who live in other cultures due to their parents’ secular work or military placements.

Tanya Crossman spent 20 years doing 500 interviews and 5 large surveys of TCKs. From her findings, she highlights five key takeaways:

  1. There is no single TCK experience.
  2. Most TCKs are grateful to grow up internationally.
  3. Good things and hard things are often intertwined.
  4. Missionary kids feel a lot of pressure.
  5. Emotional support and mental health are key.

The TCK Experience

The vast majority of TCK have positive things to say about their experiences, even though they may in the same breath acknowledge that there were also difficulties.

  • 91% of MKs said growing up abroad was a good experience overall.1
  • 90% of TCKs were thankful for their international upbringing.2
  • 76% of MKs said it made their family closer.3

Finding Silver Linings

Something the latest TCK Training research showed was that even many of the TCKs who had the most difficult experiences of childhood also saw positives in their upbringing.

  • 98% of MKs said, “I can see both good parts and hard parts in my story.”4
  • 96% of MKs said, “There were hard times, but it enriched my life.”5
  • 83% of MKs said, “I enjoyed my childhood, but I think some things could have been handled better.”6
  • And only 7% of MKs said living abroad “ruined my life.”7

MKs Feel the Pressure

When TCK Training asked TCKs about various childhood experiences connected to their parents’ work, they found that missionary kids (MKs) were much more likely to feel certain pressures when they were children than other TCKs.

  •  69% of MKs felt “pressure to ‘perform’ while visiting our passport country”; they were twice as likely as other TCKs to feel this pressure.8
  • 54% of MKs felt “pressure to be ‘perfect’ as my behavior reflected on my parents' employer.”9
  •  27% of MKs said that as children they felt “anxiety as a result of duties assigned to me (i.e., tour guide, translator)”; they were twice as likely as other TCKs to feel this anxiety.10

Family Mental Health Struggles

Missionary kids are experiencing the impact of not only their own mental health struggles, but the struggles of their parents.

  • 43% of MKs born after 1980 lived with an adult who was mentally ill.11
  • 37% of MKs lived with someone who had a serious mental health crisis.12
  • 34% of MKs reported experiencing a serious mental health crisis during childhood.13
  • 47% of MKs met the criteria for PTSD symptoms.14

TCK Strengths

TCK Training’s 2024 survey of 1,643 adult TCKs representing 92 nationalities uncovered exciting information about the TCK experience.15 Their strengths align remarkably well with the skills needed to meet future challenges:

  •  93% of adult TCKs report having a broad worldview—a crucial skill in addressing complex spiritual questions in an information-saturated generation.
  •  83% see themselves as bridges between cultures—a critical capability in holding the core truth of scripture in tension with an increasingly polarized culture.
  •  83% report compassion as a strength—a necessary trait as Gen Alpha is projected to be more deficient in meaningful face-to-face contact than previous generations.
  •  82% report adaptability—an essential skill as Gen Z and Gen Alpha face complex issues with unprecedented access to information.
  • 78% report open-mindedness—an important tool in an increasingly globalized world.

PCEs and Resilience

In 2019, Dr. Christina Bethell conducted a study of 6,188 people at Johns Hopkins to determine which childhood factors built resilience instead of fragility in adult mental health.16 The study showed that Positive Childhood Experiences, or PCEs, had a cumulative effect in that the more PCEs a child had, the greater their health in adulthood.

The seven PCEs are:17

  1. The ability to talk with family about feelings.
  2. The sense that family is supportive during difficult times.
  3. Feeling safe and protected by an adult in the home.
  4. Feeling supported by friends.
  5. Feeling a sense of belonging in high school.
  6. The enjoyment of participation in community traditions—particularly in a multigenerational setting.
  7. Having at least two non-parent adults who genuinely cared.

Each of the PCEs centers on connection—starting with the primary caregiver and then extending to the wider community. Children who consistently had 6–7 PCEs were 72% less likely to develop mental illness in adulthood. Those who had 3–5 were 50% less likely to develop depression and poor mental health.18 Everyone plays a stewardship role in building vibrant childhoods—from parents, to peers, to the wider community.

If you’re looking for more resources about MKs and faith:

We are grateful to TCK Training for these recommended resources for TCKs and their parents:

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The above photo are printed with permission from the IMB.

1 Crossman, Tanya, et al. First Look: Data from the 2024 Survey, 45.

2 Crossman, Tanya. 2016. Misunderstood: The Impact of Growing Up Overseas in the 21st Century, 21.

3 Crossman, Tanya, et al. First Look: Data from the 2024 Survey, 45.

4 Crossman, Tanya, et al. 45.

5 Ibid.

6 Ibid.

7 Ibid.

8 Crossman, Tanya, et al. 38.

9 Ibid.

10 Ibid.

11 Crossman, Tanya, et al. 45.

12 Crossman, Tanya, et al. 65.

13 Ibid.

14 Crossman, Tanya, et al. 89.

15 Crossman, Tanya, et al. 52. Bethell C., et al. "Positive Childhood Experiences and Adult Mental and Relational Health in a Statewide Sample...", JAMA Pediatrics (2019): e193007. Accessed 02/01/2025.

16 pinetreeinstitute.org/positive-childhood-experiences/

17 Bethell C., et al. "Positive Childhood Experiences," JAMA Pediatrics (2019): e193007. Accessed 02/01/2025.

Author

TANYA CROSSMAN & ANNA DANFORTH

Tanya Crossman is an adult TCK who has worked with TCKs and globally mobile families for 20 years. She has overseen five large- scale surveys of TCKs (750-2,000 participants) and surveyed 500 TCKs. She serves as the Director of Research at TCK Training. She can be reached at [email protected].

Anna Danforth is a TCK Training instructor and presenter, author, and traveling speaker. She grew up as a missionary kid in Cameroon and now equips expat families and organizations. She can be reached at [email protected].

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