Objective  To explore the status and protective factors of mental health among left-behind children aged 10 – 15 years in rural communities and to provide evidences for promoting psychological well-being of the children.

  Methods  We extracted the data on 924 left-behind children at ages of 10 – 15 years in rural communities across China from the dataset of the survey of China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) conducted in 2014. The children's mental health and its protective factors at individual, family, and community level were analyzed.

  Results  Among all the left-behind children, the mean overall score of the 6-item version of the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K6) was 9.15 ± 3.53, indicating a fair level of mental health, and 784 (84.85%) had a K6 score of 0 – 12 and 140 had a score of≥13, indicating a low and high risk of mental disorder. The results of hierarchical regression analysis revealed that all the protective factors at the individual, family and community level had significant effects on reducing the risk of mental disorder among the children (P < 0.001 for all). The protective factors at individual-level demonstrated the strongest explanatory power in reducing mental disorder risk (R² = 0.072). The individual's self-esteem and cognitive ability, maternal education, and the neighborhood relation in communities were protective factors exerting significant influences on the mental health of the rural left-behind children.

  Conclusion  The mental health level was in a normal range in 2014 among the left-behind children aged 10 – 15 years in rural communities. The protective factors at the individual, family, and community level all have significant effect on reducing mental disorde risk in the left-behind children.