Objective To investigate the basic condition and psychological health status of children in rural areas of Xibaipo town in Hebei province, learn the psychological problems of the leftover children and their influencing factors, and provide scientific basis for the school and family education for the leftover children. Methods A questionnaire survey was performed on 446 middle and primary school students in Xibaipo town, and the self-designed questionnaire was applied to collect the basic condition, family condition and psychological health status of the children. EpiData 3.0 and SPSS 17.0 were used to perform data entry and data analyses, respectively. Results The survey displayed that the leftover children accounted for 43.5% of the total number of students. The negative emotion of leftover children was significantly ber than that of non-leftover children (χ2=12.484, Plt;0.001), especially for children with both parents living far away. The main factors affecting children’s emotion were their academic performance and whether they were left behind by their parents. Conclusion The psychological health status of the leftover children is poorer than that of non-leftover children, especially for children with both parents working outside and mothers working outside. Being left over and the academic performance are the factors affecting children’s mental condition. More attention should be paid to the physical and mental development of leftover children and vigorous efforts should be exerted to formulate corresponding policies and take countermeasures so as to promote healthy growth of children.