What Your Sleeping Patterns Say About Your Relationship

Sleeping well goes hand in hand with long-term health. And what goes hand in hand with sleeping well? Being satisfied with your marriage, according to a study by Sleep medical journal.

The study consisted of 48 healthy married couples between the ages of 18 and 45, who shared a bed with their partner at least four nights a week. On average, wives slept for 6 hours and 40 minutes per night, while husbands slept 6 hours and 20 minutes. (Yep, the ladies get 20 more minutes of shut-eye.)

The outcome? "High marital satisfaction in wives was associated with higher concordance." Translation: Sleep patterns of wives who are satisfied with their relationship are more in sync with their husband's patterns. Basically, they're awake at the same time and asleep at the same time.

"For most adults, sleep is a shared behavior between bed partners," says lead author Heather Gunn, PhD, postdoctoral scholar at the University of Pittsburgh. "How couples sleep together may influence and be influenced by their relationship functioning."

Everyone might interpret "marriage satisfaction" differently, but in the context of this study, researchers used a well-known reporting scale. "The scale assesses each member's assessment of the couples' relationship satisfaction. Specific items, such as agreement on important matters in the relationship and degree of affection, are rated," the study says.

If there are issues keeping you up at night, it's time to air them out with your partner. If you're both waking up looking like two people in an ad for NyQuil, you're on the right track.