Do Separate Beds Make for Happier Couples?
In a growing trend, many couples are opting to sleep in separate beds, with some even having separate bedrooms. But does this mean they are happier? A recent study found that 35 per cent of adults surveyed sleep in another room “on occasion” or consistently to accommodate a bed partner. Almost half (43 per cent) of millennials (people aged 25 to 44) do so.
Sleep scientists argue that sleeping in separate beds can be beneficial for couples. For one, people bring different sleep habits into a relationship that don’t always match. Moreover, one partner’s snoring, twitching, restless legs, apnea, body heat or other nocturnal disruptions can be problematic for the other. In fact, research indicates that up to 30 per cent of an individual’s sleep quality (or lack thereof) is influenced by their partner’s sleep.
On TikTok, videos related to #married couples/separate rooms have become among the most viewed. One woman shared that her husband performs what she can only describe as a “crocodile death roll” every time he needs to move in bed. Other research suggests that poor sleep increases a couple’s inflammatory response to marital stress.
But what about sleep trackers? Wearable devices combine information from limb and body movement, heart rate and temperature sensors that purport to measure total sleep time, total wake time and sleep efficiency. However, the proliferation of wearable sleep trackers has come with little third-party validation of claims. In one study, researchers found that all of the devices struggled to accurately quantify sleep stages, including deep sleep.
Other sleep aids include the 10-3-2-1-0 formula: ten hours before bed, no caffeine; three hours before bed, no food or alcohol; two hours, stop working; one hour, turn off all screens and wind down; and zero, the number of times hitting “snooze” in the morning. Other studies recommend no napping, avoiding sleeping in on weekends, and waking every day at the same time.
The findings could have implications for sleep trackers that claim to measure “objective” sleep but provide inaccurate data compared to gold-standard equipment. “Inaccurate feedback about sleep may affect hundreds of thousands of people every day, globally, driving biases in the appraisal of daytime function,” the authors said.
Ultimately, sleep scientists are increasingly concerned with our excessive pre-occupation with sleep. One study found that giving people with insomnia sham or fake feedback about their sleep influenced how they felt the next day. “Inaccurate feedback about sleep may affect hundreds of thousands of people every day, globally, driving biases in the appraisal of daytime function,” the authors said.