Abstract
This dissertation examines the communication between China left-behind children and their migrant parents from the three-level perspective of relational maintenance (Dainton, 2003): the self, the system, and the network contexts. Specifically, this study looks at how the left-behind children imagine about the interactions with parents at distance from the perspective of self, what relational maintenance behaviors are used by the migrant parents and the left-behind children as the coping strategies from the perspective of system, and how family support from grandparents facilitates the long-distance parent-child relationship from the perspective of network. The purpose of this study is to not only extend the existing literature on imagined interactions, relational maintenance behaviors, and family support, but also help maintain the long-distance parent-child relationship, and in turn improve their relationship quality. Results suggested that left-behind children who engaged in more IIs which relieved tension and improved self-understanding in relation to parents, and perceived more joyful and task-sharing relational maintenance behaviors from migrant parents had better relationship with their parents, when age, communication frequency, and reunion frequency were controlled for.