Sleep on it: A pilot study exploring the impact of sexual activity on sleep outcomes in cohabiting couples

IF 3.4 2区医学 Q2 CLINICAL NEUROLOGY

Sleep Health Pub Date : 2025-04-01 DOI:10.1016/j.sleh.2024.11.004

Michele Lastella PhD , Dean J. Miller PhD , Ashley Montero , Madeline Sprajcer PhD , Sally A. Ferguson PhD , Matthew Browne PhD , Grace E. Vincent PhD

{"title":"Sleep on it: A pilot study exploring the impact of sexual activity on sleep outcomes in cohabiting couples","authors":"Michele Lastella PhD , Dean J. Miller PhD , Ashley Montero , Madeline Sprajcer PhD , Sally A. Ferguson PhD , Matthew Browne PhD , Grace E. Vincent PhD","doi":"10.1016/j.sleh.2024.11.004","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Objective</h3><div>The main aim of this pilot study was to examine the impact of sexual activity on objective and subjective sleep parameters.</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>A repeated-measures counterbalanced, cross-over design with three conditions - no sex, solo masturbation, and partnered sex was employed with cohabiting couples. In this pilot study 14 individuals participated in the study (7 females, 7 males; mean age 29.9 ± 3.4years). Sexual activities and sleep were monitored for 11 consecutive nights using a portable polysomnography system (<em>DREEM3</em>) and daily sex and sleep surveys.</div></div><div><h3>Statistical analyses</h3><div>Linear mixed models were employed to examine differences in sleep, readiness, and motivation following three conditions (i.e., no sex, solo masturbation, and partnered sex). Cohen’s d effect sizes with 95% confidence limits were also calculated for pairwise comparisons between conditions with the effect of magnitude interpreted as follows: small= 0.2, medium 0.5, large 0.8, very large 1.0. Wilcoxon Signed-Rank tests were conducted to compare the sleep stage concordance between partners across conditions.</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>Participants attempted sleep considerably later following the solo masturbation and partnered sex conditions compared to the no sex condition (<em>p</em> = .004). Wake after sleep onset and sleep efficiency improved considerably following solo masturbation and partnered sex compared to no sex (<em>p <</em> .05). No differences were observed across conditions for subjective sleep (<em>p ></em> .05). Sleep stage concordance for rapid eye movement sleep was longer when participants slept together regardless of whether they engaged or did not engage in sexual activity (<em>p <</em> .05).</div></div><div><h3>Conclusions</h3><div>Engaging in sexual activity, whether solo masturbation or partnered, significantly enhanced objective sleep quality by reducing wakefulness after sleep onset and improving sleep efficiency. Objective wake up time, sleep duration, sleep latency and subjective sleep measures showed no differences postsexual activity, potentially attributable to the small sample size and the inclusion of only healthy sleepers. Future research should focus on expanding the sample size and incorporating participants with sleep disorders to thoroughly investigate if sexual activity before bedtime can improve sleep.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48545,"journal":{"name":"Sleep Health","volume":"11 2","pages":"Pages 198-205"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4000,"publicationDate":"2025-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Sleep Health","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352721824002614","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"CLINICAL NEUROLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Abstract

Objective

The main aim of this pilot study was to examine the impact of sexual activity on objective and subjective sleep parameters.

Methods

A repeated-measures counterbalanced, cross-over design with three conditions - no sex, solo masturbation, and partnered sex was employed with cohabiting couples. In this pilot study 14 individuals participated in the study (7 females, 7 males; mean age 29.9 ± 3.4 years). Sexual activities and sleep were monitored for 11 consecutive nights using a portable polysomnography system (DREEM3) and daily sex and sleep surveys.

Statistical analyses

Linear mixed models were employed to examine differences in sleep, readiness, and motivation following three conditions (i.e., no sex, solo masturbation, and partnered sex). Cohen’s d effect sizes with 95% confidence limits were also calculated for pairwise comparisons between conditions with the effect of magnitude interpreted as follows: small = 0.2, medium 0.5, large 0.8, very large 1.0. Wilcoxon Signed-Rank tests were conducted to compare the sleep stage concordance between partners across conditions.

Results

Participants attempted sleep considerably later following the solo masturbation and partnered sex conditions compared to the no sex condition (p = .004). Wake after sleep onset and sleep efficiency improved considerably following solo masturbation and partnered sex compared to no sex (p < .05). No differences were observed across conditions for subjective sleep (p > .05). Sleep stage concordance for rapid eye movement sleep was longer when participants slept together regardless of whether they engaged or did not engage in sexual activity (p < .05).

Conclusions

Engaging in sexual activity, whether solo masturbation or partnered, significantly enhanced objective sleep quality by reducing wakefulness after sleep onset and improving sleep efficiency. Objective wake up time, sleep duration, sleep latency and subjective sleep measures showed no differences postsexual activity, potentially attributable to the small sample size and the inclusion of only healthy sleepers. Future research should focus on expanding the sample size and incorporating participants with sleep disorders to thoroughly investigate if sexual activity before bedtime can improve sleep.

查看原文本刊更多论文

求助全文

约1分钟内获得全文求助全文

来源期刊

Sleep Health CLINICAL NEUROLOGY-

CiteScore

6.30

自引率

9.80%

发文量

114

审稿时长

54 days

期刊介绍： Sleep Health Journal of the National Sleep Foundation is a multidisciplinary journal that explores sleep''s role in population health and elucidates the social science perspective on sleep and health. Aligned with the National Sleep Foundation''s global authoritative, evidence-based voice for sleep health, the journal serves as the foremost publication for manuscripts that advance the sleep health of all members of society.The scope of the journal extends across diverse sleep-related fields, including anthropology, education, health services research, human development, international health, law, mental health, nursing, nutrition, psychology, public health, public policy, fatigue management, transportation, social work, and sociology. The journal welcomes original research articles, review articles, brief reports, special articles, letters to the editor, editorials, and commentaries.