Roberts Nicole A, Burleson Mary H, Pituch Keenan, Flores Melissa, Woodward Carrie, Shahid Shiza, Todd Mike, Davis Mary C
School of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Arizona State University, Phoenix, AZ USA.
Edson College of Nursing and Health Innovation, Arizona State University, Phoenix, AZ USA.
Affect Sci. 2022 Feb 3;3(2):353-369. doi: 10.1007/s42761-021-00093-3. eCollection 2022 Jun.
Touch associated with sleep (; 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.
与睡眠相关的触摸（即在睡眠期间或睡眠前后不久报告的身体接触）作为成人睡眠相关情感调节过程的一个独特因素，尚未得到充分研究。鉴于人际触摸的情感调节作用，我们推测，在健康的同睡成年人中，睡眠触摸会增强睡眠对情感“重置”的相关影响，从而带来更平静、更稳定的状态体验。我们对210对已婚异性恋夫妇（年龄在20 - 67岁之间，79%为非西班牙裔白人，13%为拉丁裔）进行了研究，让他们记录14天每天两次（早上/晚上）的睡眠/情绪日记。多层次每日（夫妻内部）中介分析表明，正如我们所假设的，报告的睡眠触摸越多，与早晨更快乐/平静以及更少愤怒/易怒的情绪相关。反过来，更快乐/平静的情绪与与配偶相处时更大的愉悦感相关（夫妻双方都是如此）。睡眠触摸还直接与晚上积极的配偶互动事件和愉悦感评分相关。睡眠触摸还通过减少早晨愤怒/易怒的情绪（夫妻双方都是如此），间接地与较少的负面配偶互动事件和较少的与配偶相关的压力相关。此外，妻子的睡眠触摸与丈夫更快乐/平静的情绪以及晚上的愉悦感相关；丈夫的睡眠触摸与妻子的报告无关。在考虑了主观睡眠质量、前一晚的情绪、与睡眠无关的身体亲密接触、研究中的日期以及周末与工作日等因素后，所有与睡眠触摸的关联依然存在。我们推测，在相对健康、满意的夫妻中，并与睡眠相关的身体接触可能会增强睡眠的恢复和情感调节功能，这表明同睡可能是一种改善情感调节、最终增进人际关系和健康的途径。
