["Child: Care, Health and Development, Volume 52, Issue 2, March 2026. ", "\nABSTRACT\n\nBackground\nDue to the high HIV/AIDS epidemic and economic underdevelopment in Liangshan Yi Ethnic Minority Autonomous Prefecture located in Southwest China, numerous Yi children become AIDS orphans who lost one or both parents to AIDS‐related causes, and quite a few become left‐behind children as a result of parental migration for work. The purpose of the present study was to investigate how family and teacher–student relationships interactively influence the self‐esteem and school satisfaction of orphans and left‐behind children in rural China.\n\n\nMethods\nA cross‐sectional survey with 2553 students from four junior high schools was recruited, including 590 single orphans (who have lost only one parent), 106 double orphans (who have lost both parents), 588 left‐behind children and 1269 other children as a reference group.\n\n\nResults\nCompared with other children, left‐behind children were less satisfied with both family and teacher–student relationships, as well as showed lower levels of self‐esteem and school satisfaction. Orphans reported lower family relationship satisfaction but higher teacher–student relationship satisfaction and school satisfaction, compared with left‐behind children. Self‐esteem played a mediating role between family relationship satisfaction and school satisfaction for other children, left‐behind children and single orphans, but not for double orphans. A booster effect on self‐esteem—where school resources reinforced home resources—was observed among double orphans. Among other children, a similar booster effect was present, along with a compensatory pattern in which support from one setting offset insufficiency in the other. Notably, this compensation effect on school satisfaction between family and teacher–student relationships was observed only in other children.\n\n\nConclusions\nVulnerable children who had experienced parental absence or bereavement generally reported poorer family relationships. Notably, compared with orphans, left‐behind children showed lower levels of self‐esteem and were less satisfied with their teachers and schools. The analysis further revealed distinct patterns across these groups regarding how family and teacher–student relationships interactively shape self‐esteem and school satisfaction.\n\n"]