Romantic relationship satisfaction is associated with sleep in undergraduate students.

Abstract

Poor sleep is a widespread concern among undergraduate students. Romantic relationships have special prominence in emerging adulthood and have been shown to influence sleep in other adult populations. This study investigated the association between relationship satisfaction and sleep in 60 undergraduate students currently involved in a romantic relationship. Subjective sleep was assessed with the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and the Insomnia Severity Index (ISI). Actigraphy was used to assess objective sleep duration, sleep efficiency, wake after sleep onset, and sleep onset latency. Hierarchical regression analyses were conducted. After adjusting for age, body mass index, ethnicity and symptoms of depression, greater relationship satisfaction was positively associated with actigraphy assessed total sleep time and sleep efficiency and negatively associated with wake after sleep onset. No associations were observed with subjectively assessed sleep. Future research should explore mechanisms linking relationship functioning to sleep among undergraduate students. Advocacy efforts should focus on ensuring availability of relational interventions for undergraduate students to optimize their well-being.

Understanding singlehood as a complex and multifaceted experience: Insights from relationship science

“…For example, scholars have developed detailed models of romantic development and its connections with relationship formation and function (Bryant & Conger, 2002; Jamison & Sanner, 2021; Newcomb, 2020; Shulman & Connolly, 2013). There have also been meaningful efforts to contextualize romantic experiences at a basic level by asking individuals to select a type of partnered involvement (e.g., casually dating, in a committed relationship, engaged, or married) and more robustly by capturing a wide array of partnership dynamics, levels of commitment and satisfaction, and relationship preferences (e.g., Beckmeyer & Jamison, 2021a; Gala & Kapadia, 2013; Madsen et al, 2021; Roberson et al, 2017; Whitton et al, 2020).…”