(142) the influence of sexual activity on sleep: a diary study

Abstract Objectives As previous literature has shown that sexual activity affects sleep but has yielded discrepant findings, a cross-sectional and a longitudinal (diary) study have been conducted to clarify to what extent the type of sexual activity (i.e., sexual intercourse versus masturbation) impacts the effect of sexual activity on sleep, whether having an orgasm is necessary for such effects to become apparent, and lastly, whether the effect of sexual activity on sleep differs between men and women. Methods The effect of sexual activity on sleep is investigated by combining a cross-sectional survey based on previous work by Pallesen et al. (2020) and Lastella et al. (2019) with a longitudinal design in the form of a diary study. 256 male and female participants, mainly students, completed a pre-test set of questionnaires and thereafter a diary during 14 consecutive days. The cross-sectional study was analyzed using ANCOVA and follow-up analyses of weighted means (separately for men and women) with 95% confidence intervals. Accounting for the nested structure of the data, the diary data was analysed by building two separate Multilevel Linear Models. The analyses included 2076 cases at level one, which were nested within 159 participants at level two. Results The cross-sectional study demonstrated that both men and women perceive sexual intercourse and masturbation with orgasm to improve sleep latency and sleep quality, while sexual activity without orgasm exerts negative effects on these sleep parameters, most strongly in men. The longitudinal data analyses revealed that only sexual intercourse with orgasm significantly shortens sleep latency and increases sleep quality and to a similar extent in men and women. Conclusions The present studies confirm and significantly substantiate findings indicating that sexual activity and intimacy may improve sleep and overall wellbeing in both men and women and serve as a directive for future research. Conflicts of Interest There are no conflicts of interests to be declared.