Sleep quality is crucial for our physical and mental health; however, poor
sleep has become a widespread public health issue requiring research
that identifies factors that can be targeted in interventions. In this talk, I
will discuss two studies that focus on understanding the links between
social relationship experiences and sleep quality. In Study 1, 238 older
adult couples completed daily diaries for 7 days, assessing their
relationship and sleep experiences. In Study 2, 110 younger and middleaged
adult couples completed daily diaries and wore wrist actigraphy (to
measure their objective sleep quality) for 10 days. Both
studies demonstrate the dyadic effects of social relationship experiences
on sleep quality, elucidate the mechanisms underlying these effects, and
show how relationship and sleep experiences cyclically influence one
another.