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Children from single‐parent families are at risk for problems related to social–emotional development (SED). This study investigated the associations between familial care types and single‐parent children's SED, and the possible pathways through the mediation of parent–child relationship. This study analysed 431 single‐parent children (50.0% girls) drawn from a local database with a total of 2507 children studying in Grades 4 to 8. We compared the SED of single‐parent children in multigenerational care and those in parental care. We then tested the possible mediating effect of parent–child relationship between familial care types and children's SED. The study found that there were no deficits in the SED of single‐parent children in multigenerational care compared with those in parental care. Multigenerational care had no direct relationship with the SED of single‐parent children after the mediator of the parent–child relationship was entered. The parent–child relationship mediated the associations between familial care types and four dimensions of the single‐parent children's SED. These findings provided support for multigenerational and parental care, and also directions for family care strategies and developing social service programmes to promote the SED of single‐parent children in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]