Due to 21st-century social advancements, the number of children growing up in culturally "transient" families, also referred to as third culture kids (TCKs), is growing. Studies with bicultural individuals suggest that identity processes are essential to TCKs' life outcomes, with identity strategies of integration, compartmentalisation and categorisation as moderators. Further, sociocultural factors supporting multicultural individuals' adaptation are proposed. We explored the functioning (sociocultural adaptation and acculturative stress) of TCKs (N=322, 75 % females, 71 % South Asian, age M= 20.2, SD=3.1) in association with three groups of factors: individual resources (multicultural identity configurations, self-efficacy, cultural intelligence), social (family bonds, marginalization), and cultural (cultural distance). The results of two hierarchical regression analyses revealed that the factors explained 54% of the variance in sociocultural adaptation and 33% in acculturative stress. We concluded that TCKs, while adapting to a sociocultural environment, rely mainly on accumulated individual resources, with the support of a friendly immediate family environment.
