Development of the Couples' Sleep Conflict Scale: A new tool to assess conflict around sleep in romantic relationships

Objective

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Couples' Sleep Conflict Scale, a new measure designed to identify the extent of conflict around sleep in romantic relationships.

Methods

Data from an individual sample (N = 158) and dyadic sample (N = 143 mixed-gender couples) in romantic relationships were used to examine the psychometric properties of the Couples' Sleep Conflict Scale, including internal consistency, convergent and divergent validity, and whether the factor structure differed between couples with concordant and discordant chronotypes.

Results

Results revealed that the Couples' Sleep Conflict Scale fit a 1-factor solution of 5 items, a summed or mean score can be used, and that it is reliable for both men and women. In addition, more relational sleep conflict was associated with both their own and their partners’ poorer sleep hygiene, worse sleep quality, and more daytime sleepiness as well as more general relationship conflict, lower relationship satisfaction, and higher anxious and avoidant attachment. Finally, we found partial measurement invariance for factor loadings, intercepts, and latent variable variances between couples with concordant vs. discordant chronotypes.

Conclusion

The Couples' Sleep Conflict Scale is a brief measure that can be used in both research and in health care settings to examine how sleep-related conflict can affect both sleep and relationship quality among couples.