Investigating the moderating role of social integration in the association between sleep irregularity and psychological distress following marital separation
Year: 2026
Type: preprint
Abstract: Marital separation and divorce are major life stressors (Amato, 2010) that can significantly disrupt sleep (Cartwright & Wood, 1991; O’Hara et al., 2023). While psychosocial stress is a known disruptor of sound sleep (Kim & Dimsdale, 2007), the loss of a partner also constitutes a disruption in coregulation—the mutual maintenance of psychophysiological homeostasis between partners (Sbarra & Hazan, 2008). Romantic partners can serve as social zeitgebers, helping to entrain an individual to the 24-hour day through regular social interaction (Ehlers et al., 1988). Marital separation, therefore, may desynchronize routine behaviors and promote or exacerbate sleep irregularity, which can lead to worse separation-related psychological distress (SRPD). Despite the plausibility of this hypothesis, no studies have tested it empirically. Therefore, the study will test whether sleep irregularity is associated with SRPD in a sample of recently divorced individuals. We will also examine whether objectively-assessed social integration has a moderating role in the association, potentially serving as a social zeitgeber in the absence of one’s previous romantic partner.
Institution: University of Arizona
Language: English
Topic: Sleep and related disorders
Subfield: Experimental and Cognitive Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7203956603