Chapter 1 Introduction
1��1 Problem Statement and Rationale of the Study
1��2 The Goal of the Study

Chapter 2 Literature Review
2��1 Left-Behind Children and Migrant Parents in China
2��1��1 Phenomenon of Left-Behind Children
2��1��2 Definition of Left-Behind Children
2��1��3 Communication Between Left-Behind Children and Migrant Parents
2��2 Theoretical Perspective�� Four-Level Metaperspective on Relational Maintenance
2��2��1 Definition of Relational Maintenance
2��2��2 Four-Level Context of Maintenance
2��3 The Self Context�� Imagined Interactions
2��3��1 Definitions and Theoretical Foundations of IIs
2��3��2 Functions of IIs
2��3��3 Attributes of Ils
2��3��4 IIs in Maintaining Relationships
2��4 The System Context�� Relational Maintenance Behaviors
2��4��1 Perspectives on Relational Maintenance
2��4��2 Types of Relational Maintenance Behaviors
2��4��3 Maintaining Long Distance Parent-Child Relationships
2��4��4 Relational Maintenance Behaviors and Relationship Outcomes
2��5 The Network Context�� Grandparents' Support
2��5��1 Family Support
2��5��2 Grandparents as Caregivers
2��6 Hypotheses and Research Questions
2��6��1 IIs and Their Association With Relationship Quality
2��6��2 Relational Maintenance Behaviors and Their Association With Relationship Quality
2��6��3 Support and Relationship Quality
2��6��4 Communication and Its Association With IIs and Relationship Quality
2��6��5 IIs�� Relational Maintenance Behaviors�� Support�� and Relationship Quality

Chapter 3 Methodology
3��1 Pilot Study
3��1��1 Participants and Procedures
3��1��2 Measurements
3��1��3 Results of the Pilot Study
3��2 Main Study
3��2��1 Participants and Procedures
3��2��2 Measurements
3��2��3 Statistical Analysis

Chapter 4 Results
4��1 Background Characteristics
4��1��1 Participants' Demographic Information
4��1��2 Parent-Child Communication
4��2 Findings of the Proposed Research Questions and Hypotheses
4��2��1 IIs and Their Association With Relationship Quality
4��2��2 Relational Maintenance Behaviors and Their Association With Relationship Quality
4��2��3 Support and Relationship Quality
4��2��4 Communication and Its Association With IIs and Relationship Quality
4��2��5 IIs�� Relational Maintenance Behaviors�� Support�� and Relationship Quality
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Chapter 5 Discussion
Appendices
References