Transnational Families in Europe: Emotional and Mental Health amid Structural Vulnerabilisation – A Scoping Review

Background Migration is a deeply relational process that affects not only those who leave, but also those who stay behind and future generations inheriting transnational ties. While growing scholarship has explored caregiving and communication in transnational families (TFs), limited attention has been paid to how structural factors shape their emotional and mental health (EMH). This scoping review synthesises qualitative research on the EMH of TFs in Europe. It explores how emotional experiences are shaped by structural conditions, and examines the affective practices through which TF members navigate, resist, and endure these conditions. Methods An interdisciplinary scoping review was conducted following the PRISMA-ScR checklist and the JBI Manual for Evidence Synthesis. A comprehensive search of four databases (Web of Science, PsycINFO, PubMed, Scopus) was performed to identify qualitative studies published since 1995. Eligible studies focused on TFs in Europe and addressed mental health, emotions, or coping strategies in relation to migration and separation. The data were extracted and analysed using thematic synthesis. Results We synthesised 28 qualitative studies, primarily from sociology (20) and a small subset from psychology (3), anthropology (4), and human geography (1). The findings were organised around two overarching themes: (1) structurally produced vulnerabilities and (2) transnational affective practices. EMH in TFs was shaped by systemic inequalities, including restrictive migration regimes, legal precarity, racial discrimination, social class, age, and gender. Vulnerabilities were pronounced among women, children, and the elderly. TFs engaged in a range of affective practices, such as ‘emotional streaming’ via digital technologies, reconfigured caregiving roles, and the commodification of care, to maintain kinship ties and manage emotional strain. Acts of resistance and resilience underscored TF members’ agency. Conclusions This review highlights the need to foreground emotions as relational and structurally embedded aspects of EMH in TF life. While current qualitative research challenges pathologising views of emotional distress, psychological and psychosocial perspectives remain underrepresented. Future studies should adopt more interdisciplinary and intersectional approaches, and include underexplored dimensions, such as racism, border regimes, and perspectives of men and children. A politically informed understanding of TF’s lived realities, including the friction with existing power relations, is essential for addressing the emotional toll of transnational life under unequal power relations. *Philipp Rühr and Dana Abdel-Fattah share first authorship.