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.