Attachment and sleep: A dyadic intensive longitudinal actigraphy study

Abstract

Attachment and sleep are linked across the lifespan, but attachment regulation of sleep among couples is understudied. This study aimed to replicate and extend prior research by testing whether romantic partners’ attachment orientations interacted to predict sleep, assessed via self-report and actigraphy over 14 days. Participants (N = 208 couples) completed measures of attachment anxiety and avoidance and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index. They also wore actigraphy monitors to assess nightly sleep quality and duration. Anxious people self-reported worse sleep quality, replicating two prior studies. In contrast to previous studies, anxious and low-avoidant people slept significantly worse with avoidant partners, while avoidant people slept somewhat better with avoidant partners. Results indicted dyadic regulation of several sleep outcomes and provided new insights regarding how partner avoidance can exacerbate or buffer sleep quality.