Relationship Closeness and Sleep Concordance in Couples: The Role of Co-Rumination
Faculty Mentor(s) Name(s)
Dr. Taylor Elsey
Abstract
Intro: Sleep concordance, the total time someone spends co-sleeping with their partner, is an important marker of sleep quality and relationship functioning in couples (Elsey et al., 2019; Hasler & Troxel, 2020). The aim of the current study is to examine co-rumination and its associations between relationship closeness and sleep concordance. It is hypothesized that for women, greater relationship closeness will be associated with greater co-rumination and greater sleep concordance, while for men, it is hypothesized that greater relationship closeness will be associated with greater sleep concordance. Method: Participants are 202 adults recruited through Amazon’s Mechanical Turk (Mturk) for a larger project investigating couple sleep. Participants completed a series of online questionnaires including a measure of relationship closeness, a measure of co-rumination, and questions about their sleep routines which were used to create a measure of sleep concordance, then calculating a sleep concordance interval (SCI), or the total amount of time both partners were in bed together, and finally calculating a sleep concordance percentage score by dividing the TDRI by the SCI and multiplying by 100 (Elsey et al., 2019). Results: Indirect effects of relationship closeness on sleep concordance via co-rumination were evaluated using regression models. For women, relationship closeness was associated with increased co-rumination, which was associated with increased sleep concordance, ab = 0.81, 95% CI [0.07, 1.81]. For men, the association between relationship closeness and sleep concordance was not significantly mediated by co-rumination ab = 0.49, 95% CI [-0.25, 1.89]. Conclusion: Findings are consistent with the possibility that greater relationship closeness is associated with greater sleep concordance for women, in part because of increased co-rumination. For men however, the association between relationship closeness and sleep concordance was not mediated by co-rumination. This study adds to literature about the importance of sleep concordance within romantic relationships.
Start Date
27-3-2024 10:00 AM
End Date
27-3-2024 10:50 AM
Location
Magnolia Ballroom
Relationship Closeness and Sleep Concordance in Couples: The Role of Co-Rumination
Magnolia Ballroom
Intro: Sleep concordance, the total time someone spends co-sleeping with their partner, is an important marker of sleep quality and relationship functioning in couples (Elsey et al., 2019; Hasler & Troxel, 2020). The aim of the current study is to examine co-rumination and its associations between relationship closeness and sleep concordance. It is hypothesized that for women, greater relationship closeness will be associated with greater co-rumination and greater sleep concordance, while for men, it is hypothesized that greater relationship closeness will be associated with greater sleep concordance. Method: Participants are 202 adults recruited through Amazon’s Mechanical Turk (Mturk) for a larger project investigating couple sleep. Participants completed a series of online questionnaires including a measure of relationship closeness, a measure of co-rumination, and questions about their sleep routines which were used to create a measure of sleep concordance, then calculating a sleep concordance interval (SCI), or the total amount of time both partners were in bed together, and finally calculating a sleep concordance percentage score by dividing the TDRI by the SCI and multiplying by 100 (Elsey et al., 2019). Results: Indirect effects of relationship closeness on sleep concordance via co-rumination were evaluated using regression models. For women, relationship closeness was associated with increased co-rumination, which was associated with increased sleep concordance, ab = 0.81, 95% CI [0.07, 1.81]. For men, the association between relationship closeness and sleep concordance was not significantly mediated by co-rumination ab = 0.49, 95% CI [-0.25, 1.89]. Conclusion: Findings are consistent with the possibility that greater relationship closeness is associated with greater sleep concordance for women, in part because of increased co-rumination. For men however, the association between relationship closeness and sleep concordance was not mediated by co-rumination. This study adds to literature about the importance of sleep concordance within romantic relationships.