14 DAY TRIAL // Women who are happily married also sleep better than singles, or even than those who are in a stable, longtime relationship but that has not yet been made official. An eight-year study conducted by researchers in the US has established that marital bliss also equals better sleep during the night, which considerably contributes to an overall better health, the Daily Mail says.
The research included 360 women, with an average age of 51 years, who were in a stable relationship, switching between partners or married. The case of each woman was reviewed yearly as regards the status of the relationship and the impact any change had on her sleeping patterns was then thoroughly analyzed. Quality of sleep in all subjects was analyzed both objectively using specialized instruments, and subjectively using questionnaires that the women were asked to fill out at regular intervals.
The conclusion was that, while women in a stable relationship rated their nightly sleep the same as married ones, they were actually sleeping worse, but they were simply not aware of it. Overall, women who were happily married had the best and most resting nightly sleep, researchers are now able to reveal. This could happen because, unlike stably married women, those in a simple relationship might still be experiencing the “newlywed effect” or have not yet grown accustomed to sharing their life (and bed) with a partner, regardless of how long they’ve been involved with the man.
Subjective findings were also backed up by pure science, as researchers made three nightly visits a year to the home of each woman involved in the study, in order to monitor her sleeping pattern and see whether her personal life influenced it in any way. Moreover, aside from analyzing their brainwaves and eye movements during sleep, researchers also asked the subjects to wear a wrist monitor for an entire month, which, again, was supposed to shed light on the quality of their sleep.
Marital strife increases sleep problems, researchers point out at the end of the lengthy study. This, in turn, has a negative effect on the woman’s health. “The current findings dovetail with our previous work. They suggest that relationship stability as well as quality may be important protective factors for women’s sleep.” Dr. Troxel, assistant professor at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine in Pennsylvania, explains for the Mail. The findings of this study will be presented at this year’s 23rd annual meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies.