Couples' Nighttime Sleep Efficiency and Concordance: Evidence for Bidirectional Associations With Daytime Relationship Functioning

Abstract

Objective Emerging evidence suggests the existence of bidirectional links between sleep and relational processes in dyads, but to date, this research has been primarily cross-sectional. The present analyses were undertaken to prospectively examine the directionality of the association between daily relationship functioning and nightly sleep quality and the association between couples’ relationship functioning and concordance in sleep-wake rhythms. Methods Sleep was measured via both diaries and wrist actigraphy for 7 days in 29 heterosexual co-sleeping couples. Ecological momentary assessment methods were used to characterize daily relationship functioning. Dyadic, multilevel analyses were used to examine the degree to which nightly sleep efficiency or within-couple concordance in sleep timing predicted the next day’s relational functioning and vice versa. Results In the first set of analyses, for males, higher diary-based sleep efficiency predicted less negative partner interaction the following day. For females, less negative partner interaction during the day predicted greater actigraphy-based sleep efficiency that night. Furthermore, if females reported more positive and less negative daytime partner interaction during the day, this also predicted higher diary-based sleep efficiency for their male partners that night. In the second set of analyses, among females only, lower diary- or actigraphy-based sleep onset concordance respectively predicted less positive and more negative partner interactions the next day. Conclusions Bidirectional associations appear to exist between sleep parameters and interpersonal interaction, and may represent a novel pathway linking close relationships with physical and mental health.

Shared PTSD and Paradox Insomnia Among Wives of Veterans with Chronic War Induced PTSD: A Preliminary Study

“…This may be the reason of disagreement between the questionnaire and actigraphic measure of sleep latency among wives. On the other hand, this finding may reveal the presence of the same, but weaker, paradoxical situation for spouses, and most probably demonstrates the effects of the veterans' sleep situations on the sleep quality of their wives, which was hypothesized, however, not directly studied by previous investigators (7,26,27). Therefore, we could propose that the wives' shared paradoxical insomnia is induced by their husbands' sleep problems.…”

Epidemiology of Insomnia

“…Insomnia is associated with mood disturbances (e.g., irritability), heightened emotional reactiveness [60][61], negative interactions with children [62] and partners [63], reduced optimism and self-esteem [64], and overall poor quality of life (e.g., vitality) [61].…”

Chronotype, gender, and time for sex

“…We also aimed to explore gender differences in preferred time of day for sexual activity, as no such direct comparison has been reported so far -previous studies have considered mostly pairs with no distinction on gender. Previous studies have shown that sleep patterns may both influence and be influenced by interpersonal interactions in couples (Hasler & Troxel, 2010;Troxel et al, 2007), thus the stated questions seem important when considering sexual and relationship satisfaction for partners with different chronotypes.…”