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. 2023 Nov 13;6(1):1156.
doi: 10.1038/s42003-023-05521-7.

Correlations in sleeping patterns and circadian preference between spouses

Rebecca C Richmond  1   2 , Laurence J Howe  3   4 , Karl Heilbron  5   6 , Samuel Jones  7 , Junxi Liu  3   4   8 ; 23andMe Research Team; Xin Wang  9 , Michael N Weedon  10 , Martin K Rutter  11   12 , Deborah A Lawlor  3   4   13 , George Davey Smith  3   4   13 , Céline Vetter  14
Collaborators, Affiliations

Correlations in sleeping patterns and circadian preference between spouses

Rebecca C Richmond et al. Commun Biol. .

Abstract

Spouses may affect each other's sleeping behaviour. In 47,420 spouse-pairs from the UK Biobank, we found a weak positive phenotypic correlation between spouses for self-reported sleep duration (r = 0.11; 95% CI = 0.10, 0.12) and a weak inverse correlation for chronotype (diurnal preference) (r = -0.11; -0.12, -0.10), which replicated in up to 127,035 23andMe spouse-pairs. Using accelerometer data on 3454 UK Biobank spouse-pairs, the correlation for derived sleep duration was similar to self-report (r = 0.12; 0.09, 0.15). Timing of diurnal activity was positively correlated (r = 0.24; 0.21, 0.27) in contrast to the inverse correlation for chronotype. In Mendelian randomization analysis, positive effects of sleep duration (mean difference=0.13; 0.04, 0.23 SD per SD) and diurnal activity (0.49; 0.03, 0.94) were observed, as were inverse effects of chronotype (-0.15; -0.26, -0.04) and snoring (-0.15; -0.27, -0.04). Findings support the notion that an individual's sleep may impact that of their partner, promoting opportunities for sleep interventions at the family-level.

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Conflict of interest statement

R.C.R. is an Editorial Board Member for Communications Biology, but was not involved in the editorial review of, nor the decision to publish this article. X.W. and the 23andMe Research Team are employees of 23andMe, Inc. and own stock and/or stock options in 23andMe, Inc. K.H. is a former employee of 23andMe, Inc. and holds stock and/or share options in 23andMe, Inc. L.H. is a current employee and stockholder of GlaxoSmithKline. C.V. is a current employee of IQVIA GmbH. The remaining authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1. Scenarios for spousal concordance of sleep traits.
a Assortative mating—individuals are more likely to select a mate with similar sleeping behaviour. b Partner interaction—after the partnership, spouses influence each other’s sleeping behaviour. c Confounding—shared environmental factors influence the sleeping behaviour of the spouses.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2. Comparison of phenotypic correlations between spouses in UK Biobank.
Acc_ = accelerometer-derived measure. Correlations and 95% confidence intervals are shown. Sample sizes are given in the accompanying source data (Supplementary Data 13).
Fig. 3
Fig. 3. Spousal phenotypic correlations between sleep traits in UK Biobank and 23andMe.
Correlations and 95% confidence intervals are shown. Sample sizes are given in the accompanying source data (Supplementary Data 14).
Fig. 4
Fig. 4. Comparison of multivariable and Mendelian randomisation estimates in UK Biobank.
MV multivariable regression, 2SLS two-stage least squares, IVW inverse-variance weighted, MR-Egger MR-Egger approach, LAD least absolute deviation. Estimates represent the mean difference in the spouse’s sleep trait (in SD) per SD increase in an individual’s own sleep trait, with the exception of snoring for which estimates represent risk difference. 95% confidence intervals are shown. Sample sizes are given in the accompanying source data (Supplementary Data 15).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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