Happy Marriage, Better Sleep

(Ivanhoe Newswire) A happy marriage brings a good nights sleep, according to a new study. The research also finds marital problems can have a negative impact on overall sleep.

Divorced women tend to have more sleep problems, but for this study, researchers wanted to compare happily and unhappily married women and their sleep complaints.

Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh looked at 1,938 married women from the Study of Womens Health Across the Nation. The participants were 51 percent Caucasian, 20 percent African-American, 9 percent Hispanic, 9 percent Chinese and 11 percent Japanese. The women reported their marital happiness, sleep quality and sleep problems.

Study authors say higher marital happiness was associated with a lesser risk of having sleep complaints, but only among Caucasian women.  The research also finds those that have marital problems have a higher complaint of sleep issues.

Sleep is an important part of a womans health and well-being. Getting the right amount of sleep and good sleep can improve overall quality of life. Study authors say thats why its important to look at factors that can affect sleep quality. It is recommended women get between seven and eight hours of sleep each night.

SOURCE: Presented at SLEEP 2008, the 22^nd Annual Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies on June 9, 2008

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