Self-control, sleep disturbance, and the mediating role of occupational burnout in married couples

Abstract

Although the importance of occupational burnout for sleep has long been recognized, it is largely examined as an individual phenomenon. Because a majority of adults in the U.S. share the bedroom with their partner, the current study examines the role of occupational burnout in understanding the link between self-control and sleep disturbance in close relationships. Data from 96 married couples were analyzed using the actor–partner interdependence mediation model. Both husbands’ and wives’ self-control (predictor) were linked to their levels of occupational burnout (mediator), and to husbands’ sleep disturbance (outcome) through husbands’ occupational burnout. Neither husbands’ or wives’ self-control nor occupational burnout scores related to wives’ sleep disturbance. Findings from the current study identify burnout management in husbands as a potential nonpharmacological alternative approach to treating sleep disorders and emphasizes the need to examine predictors of sleep in a relational context.