Objective：To explore the status of mental health and its relationship with mental resilience in children living in rural three gorges area. Methods：With the mental health test and resilience youth and development module scales，922 children in middle schools were investigated. The participants were chosen through the multiple stratified cluster sampling. Results：①The detection rate of men－tal problem in left-behind children was 7.4%，which was not significantly different from that of non left-behind children（t=-3.393，P=0.084）. ②Compared with those of non left-behind children，left-behind children had higher scores in learning anxiety，loneliness tendency and physical symptoms（P<0.05）. ③Except for learning anxiety and self-accusation tendency，the other mental health sub-scale scores were all negatively related with mental resilience（P<0.05）. Conclusions：The mental problem detection rate in children in rural three gorges areas is lower than the national level and is not significantly different from that of non left-behind children. But the general mental health，learning anxiety and physical symptoms of left-behind children are worse than non-left-behind children. The higher mental resilience，the better mental health，therefore，when conducting health education，the above details could be tak－en into consideration.