SLEEP MATTERS

THIS week: How lack of sleep could harm your marriage MARRIED couples are happier with their relationship if they both slept well at night, according to a 2016 study in the Journal of Family Psychology.

Around 70 couples recorded their sleep patterns for a week and also kept diaries relating to their sex lives, affection and rows. Even on days when couples fell out, they reported feeling upbeat about their marital status if they’d had a good sleep the night before.

Researchers say that sleep restores function in the prefrontal cortex, part of the brain that manages self-control.

And having a high degree of self-control is thought to improve our perception of relationships. ‘If you have a poor night’s sleep, you have less empathy and tend to be argumentative,’ says Dr Neil Stanley, a sleep expert.