The Relationship Between Parent‐Infant Bed Sharing and Marital Satisfaction for Mothers of Infants

Abstract

This study investigated the relationship between marital satisfaction and time spent bed sharing with infants in a community sample of 81 bed sharing mothers. Time spent bed sharing did not significantly predict variance in marital satisfaction when considering bed sharers as a whole. Moderation analysis, however, showed the interaction between time spent bed sharing and group classification either as “intentional,” defined as parents who endorse the ideology of bed sharing, or “reactive,” defined as parents who do not plan to bed share but bed share as a reaction to infant nighttime problems, explained a significant increase in variance in marital satisfaction, ΔR2 = .075, F(1, 75) = 7.31, p = .008. None of the intended mediator variables (satisfaction with bed sharing, fatigue, and sexual satisfaction) were significantly correlated with time spent bed sharing. Results highlight the importance of recognizing the differences between intentional bed sharers and reactive bed sharers.