Children of Ameriturk mothers and traditional Turkish fathers: perceived remote acculturation gaps between divorced coparents, and child well-being in Turkey

The purpose of this study is to explore effects of parental remote acculturation and parental remote acculturation gaps in behavior and identity domains on child well-being in divorced families in Turkey. Altogether, 177 divorced mothers from three cities in Turkey completed questionnaires reporting their remote acculturation to U.S. and Turkish cultures, and perceptions of their ex-spouse’s remote acculturation using the Vancouver Index of Acculturation (Behavioral Acculturation) and the Language, Identity Behavior Scale (Identity Acculturation). Mothers also reported their child’s internalizing (social withdrawal, anxiety) and externalizing (aggression) behaviors using the Turkish CBCL. Remote acculturation gaps were operationalized with both match:mismatch and interaction methods. Hierarchical regression analyses controlling for parental conflict resolution revealed that fathers’ American identity positively predicted children’s social withdrawal. In addition, parental remote acculturation gaps predicted less internalizing problems, when mothers were high in American identity (Ameriturk), and fathers were high in Turkish identity. For AmeriTurk mothers, fathers’ Turkish identity and for strongly Turkish-identified fathers, mothers’ American identity were both negatively associated with children’s internalizing behavior problems. There were no significant findings for the behavior domain of acculturation. Taken together, parental remote acculturation and remote acculturation gaps in identity (but not behavior) predict the social and emotional (but not behavioral) well-being of children in Eurasia above and beyond parental discord and may help to explain the repercussions of globalization in Turkish families. Although fathers’ American identity may be detrimental for children in divorced families in Turkey, AmeriTurk mothers may balance traditional Turkish fathers in a way that is protective of their children, indicating the benefit of an integration acculturation strategy at the family leve