The Mediating Role of Cognitive Pre-Sleep Arousal on the Association Between Romantic Relationship Conflict and Sleep Problems
Faculty Mentor(s) Name(s)
Taylor Elsey
Abstract
Conflict is a common occurrence in romantic relationships and has an impact on multiple areas of couples’ lives, including sleep (El-Sheikh et al., 2014). While the association between poor sleep and impaired romantic relationship functioning has been established in previous research (Gordon & Chen, 2014), there is less research on the association between greater romantic relationship conflict and sleep problems (Troxel et al., 2007). Cognitive pre-sleep arousal is an important marker of sleep problems (Wuyts et al., 2012) and may explain some of the reason romantic relationship conflict negatively impacts sleep. The aim of the current study is to address the association between romantic relationship conflict and cognitive pre-sleep arousal. Relationship conflict is associated with emotional dysregulation, anxiety, depression and anger all of which are associated with increased thoughts and sleep problems (El-Sheikh et al., 2014). It is hypothesized that greater romantic relationship conflict will be associated with greater sleep problems, in part due to greater cognitive pre-sleep arousal. Participants are 204 adults (66 male, 138 female) recruited through Amazon’s Mechanical Turk (Mturk) for a larger research project investigating couple sleep. Participants completed questionnaires including a measure of relationship conflict: the frequency subscale of the Conflicts and Problem-Solving Scales (Kerig, 1996), a measure of cognitive pre-sleep arousal: the cognitive subscale of the Pre-Sleep Arousal Scale (Nicassio et al., 1985), and a measure of sleep problems: the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (Buysse et al., 1989). Indirect effects of relationship conflict on sleep problems via cognitive pre-sleep arousal were evaluated using regression models and the SPSS Process macro (Hayes, 2017). Relationship conflict was related to increased cognitive pre-sleep arousal, which was associated with increased sleep problems. Results are consistent with the hypothesis; such that greater relationship conflict was associated with greater cognitive pre-sleep arousal and thus greater sleep problems.
Start Date
27-3-2024 10:00 AM
End Date
27-3-2024 10:50 AM
Location
Magnolia Ballroom
The Mediating Role of Cognitive Pre-Sleep Arousal on the Association Between Romantic Relationship Conflict and Sleep Problems
Magnolia Ballroom
Conflict is a common occurrence in romantic relationships and has an impact on multiple areas of couples’ lives, including sleep (El-Sheikh et al., 2014). While the association between poor sleep and impaired romantic relationship functioning has been established in previous research (Gordon & Chen, 2014), there is less research on the association between greater romantic relationship conflict and sleep problems (Troxel et al., 2007). Cognitive pre-sleep arousal is an important marker of sleep problems (Wuyts et al., 2012) and may explain some of the reason romantic relationship conflict negatively impacts sleep. The aim of the current study is to address the association between romantic relationship conflict and cognitive pre-sleep arousal. Relationship conflict is associated with emotional dysregulation, anxiety, depression and anger all of which are associated with increased thoughts and sleep problems (El-Sheikh et al., 2014). It is hypothesized that greater romantic relationship conflict will be associated with greater sleep problems, in part due to greater cognitive pre-sleep arousal. Participants are 204 adults (66 male, 138 female) recruited through Amazon’s Mechanical Turk (Mturk) for a larger research project investigating couple sleep. Participants completed questionnaires including a measure of relationship conflict: the frequency subscale of the Conflicts and Problem-Solving Scales (Kerig, 1996), a measure of cognitive pre-sleep arousal: the cognitive subscale of the Pre-Sleep Arousal Scale (Nicassio et al., 1985), and a measure of sleep problems: the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (Buysse et al., 1989). Indirect effects of relationship conflict on sleep problems via cognitive pre-sleep arousal were evaluated using regression models and the SPSS Process macro (Hayes, 2017). Relationship conflict was related to increased cognitive pre-sleep arousal, which was associated with increased sleep problems. Results are consistent with the hypothesis; such that greater relationship conflict was associated with greater cognitive pre-sleep arousal and thus greater sleep problems.