Factors Associated with Hopelessness and the Role of Social Networks Among Chinese Older Adults

Objective: The levels of hopelessness affect older adults' physical and mental health. However, there has been a lack of research on the hopelessness among Chinese older adults. The aims of this study were to explore factors associated with hopelessness and the moderating role of social networks among Chinese older adults. Method: We conducted a cross-sectional study among older adults (n = 837) from nine communities in Xi'an and Beijing in China, and collected the participants' levels of hopelessness, demographic information (age and gender), socioeconomic status (marital status, education, monthly income, living status, and alimony), life satisfaction, health information (self-rated health and sleep quality), and quality of social networks. Results: Of the participants, 61.9% reported different levels of hopelessness symptoms; 71.2% reported poor sleep quality, and 21.1% reported low levels of social networks. A hierarchical multiple regression analysis showed that marital status, monthly income, alimony, life satisfaction, and sleep quality were significantly associated with hopelessness. A PROCESS analysis demonstrated that social networks played a moderating role in the relationship between sleep quality and hopelessness. Conclusion: Chinese older adults who had no spouse, had lower incomes, and were dissatisfied with life were more likely to have higher levels of hopelessness. Furthermore, older adults who did not receive financial support from their children reported higher levels of hopelessness. In addition, the worse the sleep quality the higher levels of hopelessness in older adults. However, high levels of social networks could weaken the negative effect of sleep quality on hopelessness.