Sleep and Psychological Abuse Among Cohabiting Couples: A Pilot Study

Abstract

This study explored the relationship between psychological abuse and sleep deprivation among nonclinical cohabiting couples. Thirty-one couples participated in completing a variety of sleep measures, a psychological abuse scale, and a relationship satisfaction survey. Results indicated a persistent relationship between everyday sleep deficits (sleep quality, daytime sleepiness, and self-reported total sleep time) and the perceived perpetration and felt victimization of psychological abuse. Overall, results were as hypothesized, but there were gender differences. Male psychological abuse victimization and perpetration were significantly related to sleep quality and daytime sleepiness, but for women, only sleep duration was predictive of felt victimization. The sleep variables were significantly related to women’s—but not men’s—reported relationship satisfaction. Overall, minimal sleep deprivation appears to be related to increased psychological abuse perpetration and victimization even among a normative population scoring outside the clinical range on these measures. Implications for prevention and treatment are discussed.