Abstract: Objective To investigate the influencing factors of mental health among recruits during training in cold area.Methods The symptom checkhist 90(SCL-90)was used to evaluate the mental health among 1 000 recruits during the first training week.Results Compared with country side and city recruits,recru its from towns had higher score in obsession,interpersonal relation ship,depression,hostile,photicaneiety,paranoia,psy choticism,the total score of SCL-90,and the score of som atization.Compared with recruits with junior high school education,recruits with high or middle school education had high score in somatization,interpersonal relation ship,depression,hostile,anxiety,paranoia,psy choticism,and the total score of SCL-90.Recruits having alcohol and smoking hobbies had higher SCL-90 score than recruits without those hobbies.Regression analysis showed that the total score of SCL-90 and the score of somatization,in terpersonal relationship,depression,hostile,anxiety,paranoia,psychoticism of the recruits were inverse correlated with living environmen,twhile direct correlated with a lcoholand smoking hobbies.Conclusion Drinking and smoking are the major mental health influencing factors in recruits during training in cold a rea.