Globalisation in the twentieth century signified a reduction in agricultural buoyancy and a greater demand for industrialisation. It was the catalyst for a record-breaking economically driven mass rural-to-urban migration in developing countries. As working adults migrated from rural regions to larger cities for better lifestyles and employment opportunities, some children became separated from their parents. The term ‘left-behind children’ (LBC) describes children who have been ‘left behind’ in their hometown – under the care of other family members or institutions either by one or both parents who have migrated to work elsewhere. The plight of the hundreds of millions of children from all areas of the world who have been impacted by parental migration has rapidly attracted mass media, academic and political discussions over the recent decades. A considerable majority of the current literature suggests that left-behind children suffer more psychological problems such as depression, anxiety, emotional and behavioural problems, health-risk behaviours and suicidal ideation compared to children who have never experienced parental migration. These mental health issues are also likely to perpetuate into adulthood. Nevertheless, a notable fact is that not all left-behind children are negatively impacted by parental migration. It is proposed that resilience is a crucial determinant for children to reach their full potential despite parental absence. The lack of exploration of key variables that can mitigate the effects of parental migration based on a socioecological resilience perspective created a gap in previous literature. Hence there are two objectives of this thesis. The first is to compare psychological outcomes in left-behind children and control children. Second, from a socioecological resilience framework identify the risk factors and protective factors that are critical in differentiating left-behind children whose psychological development has been detrimentally impacted by parental migration to left-behind children who have not suffered despite parental migration.