Background Hopelessness and insomnia remain growing mental health issues worldwide, their relationship has been neglected by international development policies, especially in the countries with rapidly aging population like China. However, there is little conclusive evidence on the mechanisms through which insomnia severity influences hopelessness. Based on previous research regarding the significant associations among fatigue, social support, insomnia and hopelessness, this study aims to investigate the relationship between insomnia and hopelessness as well as how insomnia affects hopelessness through fatigue and social support. Methods A population‐based data including 946 community‐dwelling older adults extracted from “Elderly Care Household Survey in 2019” in Beijing were used. The age of the participants ranged from 66 to 97 years old, and 53.3% of the respondents were female. Intercorrelations among insomnia, fatigue, social support and hopelessness were examined. Serial multiple mediation models were analyzed by the bootstrapping method to assess whether fatigue and social support serially mediate the relationship between insomnia and hopelessness. Results Higher level of insomnia severity (coefficient = 0.0421, p < 0.001), higher level of fatigue (coefficient = 0.0171, p < 0.001), and lower level of social support (coefficient = −0.0320, p < 0.001) were significantly associated with higher level of hopelessness. Fatigue and social support in serial, mediated the relationship between insomnia and hopelessness (total effect: coefficient = 0.0623, 95% CI [0.0466, 0.0780]; total direct effect: coefficient = 0.0421, 95% CI [0.0262, 0.0581]; total indirect effect: coefficient = 0.0202, 95% CI [0.0147, 0.0272]). Conclusions Improving sleep quality and eliminating fatigue could effectively alleviate the sense of hopelessness among Chinese older adults. In addition, establishing stronger social support brought by social network from family and friends could confer resilience against the negative effects of despair brought by insomnia. Our findings highlighted the mechanism connecting insomnia to hopelessness, which would inspire the future practice.

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This study investigated the effects of ecological-level marketization, individual-level occupational status, and their interaction, on depression in residents in urban China. Population-based data ( N = 13,004) from the 2016 China Family Panel Survey were used. A multilevel mixed-effects generalized linear model explored whether and to what extent market transition measured by the marketization index (MI), occupational status measured by international socio-economic index (ISEI), and their interaction, affected people’s depression. Results showed that higher MI ( b = –.157, p < .001) and ISEI scores ( b = –.124, p < .001) were associated with lower levels of depression. However, residents with high occupational status might suffer a uniquely elevated level of depression when living in highly marketized cities ( b = .139, p < .05). Raising the public mental health awareness of residents with low occupational status from low marketized areas and that of residents with high occupational status from high marketized areas is warranted in societies undergoing rapid marketization, such as China.