本书从三层关系维系模型(自我层面、系统层面、外缘层面)出发探究中国留守儿童与父母之间的沟通和亲子关系质量。具体而言，本书探索了留守儿童如何想象与父母的交流(自我)；父母和留守儿童使用何种关系维系行为来应对分离状态(系统)；来自祖父母的支持如何帮助留守儿童及其父母维持远距离亲子关系(外缘)。本书的目的一方面在于拓展想象交流、关系维系行为和家庭支持方面的理论研究，另一方面在于帮助留守儿童及其父母维系远距离亲子关系并提升关系质量。本书的结论建议：在年龄、沟通频率、团聚频率等因素受控制的情况下，留守儿童的想象交流更多用于缓解压力和提升自我认知时，留守儿童从父母处感受到更多愉快的和任务分享型的关系维系行为时，其亲子关系质量更佳。

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 IIs
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
Chapter 5 Discussion
5.1 Theoretical Implications
5.1.1 A Systems Approach to Parent-Child Relationship Maintenance
5.1.2 Three-Level Maintenance and Relationship Quality
5.1.3 Other Important Findings
5.2 Practical Applications
5.3 Limitations and Directions for Future Research
5.3.1 Culture Level of Relational Maintenance
5.3.2 Developmental Issues in Parent-Child Relationship Maintenance
5.3.3 Research Frame and Design
5.4 Conclusion
Appendices
Appendix A Demographic Information and Communication Between Left-Behind Children and Migrant Parents
Appendix B Modified Survey of Imagined Interactions
Appendix C Perceptions of Parents' Relational Maintenance
Appendix D Modified Family Subscale from the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support
Appendix E The Perceived Relationship Quality Component (PRQC) Inventory
References