Thekabarnews.com– Adults who regularly share a bed with a spouse or romantic partner may sleep longer. They may also report better mental health than people who sleep alone, according to a University of Arizona study. The study involved 1,007 working-age adults.

The researchers linked bed-sharing to better sleep and mental health. They did not prove that it directly caused either benefit.

Relationship quality, health, household circumstances and other factors may influence both sleeping arrangements and reported outcomes.

The researchers analyzed data from the Sleep and Health Activity, Diet, Environment and Socialization (SHADES) study. Participants lived in southeastern Pennsylvania in the United States. They also reported how frequently they had shared a bed during the previous month.

The team compared adults who shared a bed with a partner most nights with respondents who said they never did so. Researchers adjusted their analysis for age, sex, race and ethnicity, income and education.

Adults who slept beside a partner most nights reported approximately 15 minutes more sleep. They also took about six minutes less to fall asleep and spent nearly nine fewer minutes awake after initially falling asleep.

They also reported less severe insomnia and fatigue, along with a lower risk score for sleep apnea.

However, researchers assessed apnea risk using the STOP-BANG screening questionnaire; they did not clinically diagnose participants through overnight laboratory testing.

Researchers also linked partner bed-sharing to lower depression, anxiety and stress scores. Participants reported stronger social support and greater satisfaction with their lives and relationships.

“We were very surprised to find out just how important the practice could be,” senior researcher Michael Grandner said in a statement distributed by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine.

The findings appeared in a 2022 conference abstract published in the journal Sleep. The original research abstract was presented at the SLEEP 2022 annual meeting.

Adults who shared a bed with a child most nights reported greater insomnia severity, less control over their sleep and higher sleep apnea risk scores. The researchers also associated this arrangement with greater stress.

Those results do not establish that children caused the poorer outcomes. Stressful family circumstances, a child’s health, disrupted routines or an adult’s existing sleep problems may explain why some families share beds.

The study also relied primarily on self-reported information from one geographic area. Its cross-sectional design captured relationships at one point, preventing researchers from establishing which condition came first.

The findings should not serve as medical advice that couples must share a bed. For some people, snoring, sleep apnea, different work schedules, movement, illness and temperature preferences can make separate sleeping arrangements more suitable.

The research involved working-age adults and should not be applied to infant sleep. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that infants sleep in their parents’ room on a separate, firm sleep surface. Instead of sharing an adult bed, infants should sleep on their own surface.

Further research using objective sleep monitoring and long-term follow-up would be necessary. This research would determine whether sleeping beside a partner produces the reported benefits or simply reflects a supportive relationship and healthier living conditions.