The role of couple sleep concordance in sleep quality: Attachment as a moderator of associations

Abstract

Summary Despite most American adults sharing a bed with a romantic partner, sleep research has examined sleep primarily as an individual behaviour. A growing body of research indicates that couple bed sharing may have an impact on sleep quality, but the current study is the first to examine whether such associations may differ based on attachment security. A sample of 179 cohabiting heterosexual couples completed daily sleep diaries and surveys of their attachment security, avoidance and anxiety. Data were analysed using multilevel modelling. Greater attachment security and lower attachment avoidance were associated with greater subjective sleep quality. Greater sleep concordance (time in bed with partners) was associated with better subjective sleep quality for women with lower attachment security and higher attachment avoidance. Findings suggest that couple bed sharing may benefit the subjective sleep quality of women who have lower attachment security.

High Heart Rate Variability Buffers the Effect of Attachment Insecurity on Sleep Quality

“…Those components are combined into the global sleep quality scale; higher scores represent poorer sleep quality. The alpha levels were calculated using component scores ( α = .68), per recommendations (44) and were close to the range of alphas (.70 –.83) in prior studies (27). The ICC is 0.74 for the global sleep score, 0.59 for sleep quality, 0.68 for sleep latency, 0.67 for sleep duration, 0.55 for habitual sleep efficiency, 0.60 for sleep disturbance, and 0.57 for daytime dysfunction.…”

“…Although people with high attachment avoidance report hyperindependence, they still benefit from feeling close and secure in their relationships. Higher levels of sleep concordance (when both members in a couple go to sleep and wake up at similar times) were associated with higher sleep quality for women with high attachment avoidance (27). Being physically close to one’s partner while going to bed, sleeping, and waking benefited those high in attachment avoidance (27).…”

“…Higher levels of sleep concordance (when both members in a couple go to sleep and wake up at similar times) were associated with higher sleep quality for women with high attachment avoidance (27). Being physically close to one’s partner while going to bed, sleeping, and waking benefited those high in attachment avoidance (27). Feeling emotionally close to one’s partner also affects sleep; when people high in attachment avoidance have negative interactions with their romantic partner, they have shorter sleep duration (28).…”

Yours, mine, or ours? Dyadic sleep hygiene and associations with sleep quality, emotional distress, and conflict frequency in mixed‐gender, bed‐sharing couples

“…Sleep is not an individual experience, but a social one, as many individuals have bed-sharing or co-sleeping partners (i.e., romantic partners; Andre et al, 2021). There is growing evidence that couples exhibit some concordance, or similarity, in sleep quality (Elsey et al, 2019;Hasler & Troxel, 2010;Walters et al, 2020a).…”

“…Sleep is not an individual experience, but a social one, as many individuals have bed‐sharing or co‐sleeping partners (i.e., romantic partners; Andre et al, 2021). There is growing evidence that couples exhibit some concordance, or similarity, in sleep quality (Elsey et al, 2019; Hasler & Troxel, 2010; Walters et al, 2020a). Early couples research found concordance in epoch‐by‐epoch, actigraphy‐assessed movement patterns, meaning that couples have similar sleep–wake patterns throughout the night (Pankhurst & Home, 1994).…”