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. 2022 Feb 3;3(2):353-369.
doi: 10.1007/s42761-021-00093-3. eCollection 2022 Jun.

Affective Experience and Regulation via Sleep, Touch, and "Sleep-Touch" Among Couples

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Affective Experience and Regulation via Sleep, Touch, and "Sleep-Touch" Among Couples

Nicole A Roberts et al. Affect Sci. .

Abstract

Touch associated with sleep (sleep-touch; reported physical contact during or shortly before/after sleep) is underexplored as a distinct contributor to affect regulatory processes associated with adult sleep. Given the affect-regulating effects of interpersonal touch, we theorized that among healthy co-sleeping adults, sleep-touch would add to sleep-related effects on affective "resetting," resulting in the experience of calmer, more regulated states. We studied 210 married heterosexual couples (aged 20-67 years, 79% non-Hispanic white, 13% Latinx) assigned 14 days of twice-daily (morning/evening) sleep/mood diaries. Multilevel daily (within-couple) mediation analyses showed that as hypothesized, more reported sleep-touch was associated with happier/calmer and less angry/irritable morning mood. In turn, happier/calmer mood was associated with greater enjoyment of time with spouse (for both spouses). Sleep-touch also was linked directly to both evening positive spousal events and enjoyment ratings. Sleep-touch was associated indirectly with fewer negative spousal events and less spouse-related stress via less angry/irritable morning mood (both spouses). Further, wives' sleep-touch was related to happier/calmer husband mood and evening enjoyment; husbands' sleep-touch was unrelated to wives' reports. All associations with sleep-touch were present while accounting for subjective sleep quality, prior evening mood, non-sleep-related physical affection, day in study, and weekend versus weekday. We speculate that among relatively healthy satisfied couples, physical touch during and surrounding sleep may add to sleep's restorative and affect-regulatory functions, suggesting a pathway through which co-sleeping can improve affect regulation and ultimately relationships and health.

Keywords: Affectionate touch; Couples; Emotion; Emotion regulation; Positive affect; Sleep.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interestThe authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Dyadic mediation model. Note. Husb, husband; X, exogenous predictor; M, mediator; Y, final outcome. Gray boxes represent exogenous predictors, mediators, and final outcomes. Subscript H, husband; subscript W, wife. White boxes represent covariates. Black solid arrows represent hypothesized actor effects and correlations. Gray dashed arrows represent hypothesized partner effects. Paths representing effects of covariates are omitted for clarity
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Positively valenced model. Note. Standardized estimates. Husb, husband. Gray boxes represent exogenous predictors, mediators, and final outcomes. White boxes represent covariates. Black arrows represent significant hypothesized paths and correlations. Gray arrows represent non-significant hypothesized paths. Solid arrows represent actor effects on actor; dashed arrows represent partner effects on actor. Coefficients for non-significant partner effects, along with all paths representing actor effects of covariates, are omitted for clarity (see Table 4 for results)
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Negatively valenced model. Note. Standardized estimates. Husb, husband. Gray boxes represent exogenous predictors, mediators, and final outcomes. White boxes represent covariates. Black arrows represent correlations and significant hypothesized paths. Gray arrows represent non-significant hypothesized paths. Solid arrows represent actor effects on actor; dashed arrows represent partner effects on actor. Coefficients for non-significant partner effects, along with all paths representing actor effects of covariates are omitted for clarity (see Table 5 for results)

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