Daily Sleep Quality and Support in Romantic Relationships: The Role of Negative Affect and Perspective-Taking

Abstract

Sleep is an important predictor of social functioning. However, questions remain about how impaired sleep-which is common and detrimental to affective and cognitive functions necessary for providing high quality support-is linked to both the provision and perception of support, especially at the daily level. We tested links between impaired sleep and provided and perceived support in romantic couples, and whether these links were mediated by negative affect and perspective-taking. In preregistered analyses of two 14-day diary studies (Study 1 N = 111 couples; Study 2 N = 100 couples), poor daily subjective sleep quality-but not duration-was associated with less self-reported support toward a partner (in both studies), less perceived support from a partner and less partner-reported support (in Study 1), and partner perceptions of receiving less support (in Study 2). Only greater daily negative affect consistently mediated the association between participants' impaired sleep (i.e., poor subjective sleep quality and duration) and their own support provision, as well as their partner's perceptions of received support. Our findings suggest that the effect of sleep on social processes may be strongest for self-reported measures of support, and that unique aspects of sleep might be differentially associated with social outcomes given that sleep quality-but not duration-was consistently linked to support outcomes. These findings highlight the psychosocial influences of sleep and negative affect and may inform approaches to promote supportive partner interactions.

Relationship stress, arguments, and sleep quality: A causal process analysis

“…Moreover, we found no evidence that the prior night’s sleep was associated with next-day relationship stress or arguments. Findings are consistent with prior observations of links between hostile partner interactions and subsequent worse sleep (El-Sheikh & Rauer, 2013; Fillo et al, 2017; Hicks & Diamond, 2011), yet they contrast with adverse effects of poor sleep on the intensity and resolution of subsequent arguments (Gordon & Chen, 2014) and support provision to partners (Sell et al, 2023). Across studies, these findings suggest that poor sleep may be more closely associated with how partners approach subsequent conflict than with whether conflicts occur.…”

“…One possible explanation emerges from prior findings that relationship evaluations affect how partners interpret arguments (e.g., Johnson et al, 2018). Despite the negative cognitive and emotional effects of worse sleep (Sell et al, 2023), participants may have been less likely to register disagreements as overt arguments when their partners effectively pivoted away from tension after the disagreement.…”

“…Among heterosexual couples, wives (but not husbands) reported more positive interactions with partners following nights of better sleep (Yorgason et al, 2018), and men slept more efficiently on nights when their partners reported more positive interactions with them earlier in the day (Hasler & Troxel, 2010). Additionally, increased negative affect accounted for links between poor sleep quality and lower perceived support provision to partners (Sell et al, 2023). While these findings are promising, as Gordon et al (2021) noted, more research is needed to identify the complex contextual processes that account for these effects.…”

Sleep and Socioemotional Outcomes Among Sexual and Gender Minority Adolescents: A Longitudinal Study

“…Among a nationally representative US sample, adolescents with insufficient sleep (< 7 h) reported having poorer relationships with their mother and father than their counterparts with sufficient sleep (7–10 h) (Mueller et al, 2011 ). A recent 14-day diary study showed that poor sleep quality could predict next-day self-reported provision of support towards a partner and perceived support received from a partner, with such associations mediated by negative affect (Sell et al, 2023 ). It was concluded that sleep could influence the social relationship process, including the provision and perceived reception of support, partially through sleep’s influence on negative affect.…”