Abstract: Objective To analyze the difference in positive psychological quality and its influencing factors among nursing students from rural and urban areas and to provide theoretical basis for formulating effective measures to improve psychological and physical health of nursing students.Methods Totally 745 nursing students were selected via random clustered sampling.General Information Questionnaire,Positive Psychological Questionnaire,Self-Rating Anxiety Scale(SAS),Self-Rating Depression Scale(SDS),and General Self-Efficacy Scale(GSES) were used to collect information on general status,positive psychological quality,anxiety,depression,and self-efficacy among the nursing students.Results The scores of nursing students who came from rural areas were lower than those who came from urban areas in four dimensions and eight qualities(P<0.05 for all).The rates of anxiety and depression were 20.35% and 43.51% for rural students and 25.08% and 45.23% for urban students;the score of self-efficacy was 2.39±0.45 for rural students and 2.42±0.51 for urban students.There were no significant differences in anxiety,depression,and self-efficacy between the two groups(P>0.05).Multiple linear regression showed that self-efficacy,depression,parents' expectation,sports participation and the relationship with classmates were major factors influencing psychological qualities of the students(P<0.05);father's concern and whether being a student leader influenced the psychological qualities of the students who came from rural areas(P<0.05 for all);while anxiety,academic performance,mother's care influenced the the qualities of the students who came from urban areas(P<0.05 for all).Conclusion The positive psychological quality of nursing students from rural areas is worse than those from urban areas,and there are different influencing factors for the quality in the studensts.Effective measures should be taken to promote the positive qualities in nursing students based on different influencing factors for the quality.