Testing the effect of perceived social support on left-behind children’s mental well-being in mainland China: The mediation role of resilience

•The mechanism of how perceived social support affect left-behind children’s mental well-being remains unclear.•Perceived social support elicited a significant direct effect on left-behind children’s mental well-being.•Resilience can partially mediate the effect of perceived social support on left-behind children’s mental well-being. The mechanism of how perceived social support could contribute to left-behind children’s mental well-being remains unclear in mainland China. The purpose of this study was to investigate the direct effect of perceived social support and the mediation role of resilience on left-behind children’s mental well-being. Data of 476 left-behind children in grades 4–9 from 6 schools were collected from a school-based project in Chuzhou District in mainland China. Structural equation modeling indicated that perceived social support elicited a significant direct effect on left-behind children’s mental well-being. Resilience could partially mediate the influence of perceived social support on left-behind children’s mental well-being. These findings could provide cross-cultural evidence for theoretical implications and contribute to evidence-based social policy and social work intervention to promote left-behind children’s mental well-being.