Objective To have knowledge about the effect of growth environment on mental health and personality of university students so as to provide a reference for carrying out mental health education in universities.Method Psychological survey was conducted on freshmen at a certain university with University Psychological Inventory（UPI） and Eysenck Personality Questionnaire（EPQ） and the effects of growth environment factor on it were analyzed.Results As for mental health

the level of mental health in students grown in different environments had no significant difference（F=1.159

p>0.05）.As shown by variance analysis on the effect of growth environment on personality of university students

growth environment had significant effects on four personality factors of university students

namely

psychoticism（F=3.299）

introversion-extroversion（F=5.433）

neuroticism（F=3.973） and disguise disposition（F=14.851）.In multiple comparisons on the effect of growth environment on personality

scores of psychoticism in students from rural areas were higher than those from urban areas while their scores in introversion-extroversion were lower

and the differences were statistically significant（p<0.01）.Factor scores of neuroticism and disguise disposition in students from rural areas were the highest compared with students grown in other environments

and the differences were statistically significant（p<0.05 or p<0.01）.Conclusion Growth environment is a key factor affecting personality characteristics of university students.