Objective To examine mental health status and its influencing factors among adult residents in China and to provide references for promoting mental health of the population.

Methods The data on 28 666 residents aged ≥ 18 years were extracted from the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) conducted in 2014 and the 6-Item Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K6) was adopted in the study. Dichotomous logistic regression model was used to evaluate mental health of the participants by demographics, physical health, social economic condition, and health-related behaviors.

Results Among all the adults, the mean K6 score was 9.22 + 3.98; 24 376 (85.03%) and 4 290 (14.97%) were assessed at a low risk (K6 score of 6 – 12) and high risk (K6 score of ≥ 13) of mental disorders, indicating a reasonable level of overall mental health for the population surveyed. The results of multivariate regression analysis showed that variables of demographics, physical health, social economic condition, and health-related behaviors had significant impacts on mental health of the adults (all P < 0.05).

Conclusion The mental health of adult residents in China is generally at a reasonable level; but attention should be paid to mental health of rural residents, women, the unmarried, the adults with low education, residents in western China, smokers, alcohol drinkers, the adults with poor self-rated health, having chronic diseases, having some physical discomforts, being leanness, with low satisfaction to daily life, without medical insurance, being a students, and the adults with low income.