Mental health problems and influencing factors of parent-child separated children: An umbrella review of meta-analysis

Abstract

Background

An increasing number of parents are forced to part with their children due to the pressures of life or unpredictable circumstances. This forced separation often has a devastating effect on children's minds, leading to a range of mental health problems.

Methods

We searched five databases (EBSCO, PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and China National Knowledge Infrastructure) from inception to November 17, 2023, and performed a systematic analysis using Comprehensive Meta-Analysis (CMA) 3.0.

Results

We identified 28 eligible meta-analyses with 746,175 participants across 170 outcomes. Parent-child separated (PcS) children were at higher risk for emotional problems (d = 0.22 [95 % CI 0.17–0.28]), cognitive problems (d = 0.20 [95 % CI 0.10–0.29]), behavioral problems (d = 0.21 [95 % CI 0.15–0.27]) and psychosis (d = 0.22 [95 % CI 0.15–0.29]) than non-PcS children. Regarding influencing factors, both personal and social factors were moderately positively correlated with emotional and behavioral problems. Family factors had a moderate positive correlation between emotional problems (z = 0.20, [95CI% 0.12–0.28]), and a low positive correlation with behavioral problems (z = 0.13, [95CI% 0.04–0. 22]). After addressing the issue of overlapping data, there were no significant differences in emotional problems in children with PcS compared to non-PcS children.

Limitations

The majority of studies included in our umbrella review were from China, which may limit the generalizability of our findings.

Conclusion

PcS children suffer more mental health problems than non-PcS children. The community needs to act and intervene proactively to promote the improvement of the mental health of these children.