Interactions between co-sleeping, sleep quality, and relationship health: The benefits and challenges of shared sleep environments.
Level 5 - mechanism / opinion, no new human data
Narrative review synthesizing existing literature without systematic review methodology
PubMed 40772335 · doi:10.1177/13591053251356355
What was done
This was a narrative review synthesizing literature on how shared adult sleep environments interact with sleep quality, sleep disorders (e.g., insomnia, obstructive sleep apnea), and marital or relationship health.
What was found
The abstract provides no numerical data, effect estimates, or sample sizes. Descriptively, co-sleeping is noted to enhance emotional closeness and sleep synchronization, but it can worsen sleep disruption in the presence of sleep disorders. The review discusses "sleep divorce" (sleeping separately) as an adaptive strategy to preserve sleep quality.
Why it matters
It highlights the balance between emotional intimacy and sleep health in couples, presenting separate sleeping arrangements as a pragmatic option to manage sleep disruptions.
Limits
As a narrative review without systematic search or meta-analytic methods, it is vulnerable to selection bias. The abstract reports no empirical metrics, sample sizes, or quantitative effect sizes.